GOP still trying to improve on this
When Republicans announced last month that their brand sucked and they wanted to make it better,
one of their ideas was to harness the power of celebrity:
“The Party is seen as old and detached from pop culture,” the group said. “Establish an RNC Celebrity Task Force of personalities in the entertainment industry to host events for the RNC and allow donors to participate in entertainment events as a way to attract younger voters.”
Since then, the biggest thing to come out of the GOP in terms of celebrities has been Marco Rubio's war on Jay-Z and Beyoncé for going to Cuba, though one suspects the real motivation for his jihad was the fact that they participated in Comrade Obamalinsky's crowning ceremony.
So, Republicans haven't yet pulled the trigger on their celebrity rebranding makeover. But now that they are holding the latest round of RNC meetings in Hollywood, that'll change, right? Wrong:
There is a decided lack of star power at the committee’s four-day spring meeting despite the locale. Still, the schedule nonetheless sought to capitalize on the Hollywood setting. The 168 members had a dinner reception Thursday night at the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Fox Studios. Their guest speakers were a California state assemblywoman, popular talk radio host Hugh Hewitt and former Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.).
Here's the best they could do:
Courtney King, identified as an “actress” on the schedule, appeared on a panel later in the afternoon about “winning the women’s vote.” But it’s not clear who she is or what she has appeared in.
The biggest Hollywood celebrity to come by the meeting was Julianne Hough, a two-time champion of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” She came to see her father, Utah Republican national committeeman Bruce Hough. At least one committeeman asked her to pose for a photo with him.
On the bright side ... no empty chair.