HO knows if the Republican Babe of the Week feature on Tom Schneider's conservative Web site will do much for the party in New Jersey?Posted on 02/02/2005 6:23:29 AM PST by NYC GOP Chick
By PETER APPLEBOME
HO knows if the Republican Babe of the Week feature on Tom Schneider's conservative Web site will do much for the party in New Jersey?
But with the Republicans ascendant nationally and stuck in the mud in New Jersey, maybe Mr. Schneider is on to something with his promise to put the party back in the Grand Old Party.
So if the seven Republicans hoping to take on Democratic Senator Jon S. Corzine in the race for New Jersey governor want to get some attention, here's a hint: Don't worry about the official New Jersey Republican Party Web site (www.njgop.org) with its earnest assemblage of position papers and dour officeholders. Instead, check out its evil twin at www.jerseygop.com. That's where Mr. Schneider is hoping to prove that the party of Pat Robertson and James Dobson is also the party of lacy lingerie and bare skin, where being wrapped in the flag takes on a whole new meaning.
It's possible that Mr. Schneider's Web site, which is both a business and political undertaking, is getting a half-million page views a month because of his proposal for a New Jersey version of Newt Gingrich's Contract with America or his recent essay, "Secular Fundamentalism in America."
Well, maybe it's not possible. Mr. Schneider, who lives in Riverton, in South Jersey, and does both online marketing and landscaping, figures that maybe 90 percent of the visitors to his site come for his Republican Babe feature, which exists somewhere between hard-core patriotism and soft-core porn, where state secrets meet Victoria's Secret.
Not that all the subjects and poses are salacious. There are pundits and politicos in prim garb with no-nonsense gazes, and the site may be the first "babe" site to include a secretary of state - Condoleezza Rice. And given that the prototype in terms of ideology, hair color and body type seems to be Ann Coulter - who knew there were so many starving Republicans? - reactions to the feature may vary according to one's political and aesthetic views.
There are leggy country music stars (Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Sara Evans), beauty queens (past or present Miss South Dakota, Miss Missouri, Miss USA), actresses (Heather Locklear, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sarah Michelle Gellar), and a galaxy of supermodels. Eight of the fair and balanced women of Fox News are recognized en masse for their contributions to the cause. Kirsten Andersen, identified as a Gen X columnist in the mold of Ms. Coulter, poses with the flag covering her seemingly bare chest. (She says she wore a bathing suit.) A few pose brandishing pistols, others pose fetchingly in their underdrawers.
THERE is also a "Dude of the Week" page. But it gets about one-tenth the viewers as the Babes, and the honorees, like Donald H. Rumsfeld, Rush Limbaugh and Rudolph W. Giuliani, are far less likely to strike seductive poses on satin sheets or to have been picked for how they might look in their Speedos.
Mr. Schneider describes himself as a former "extreme leftist wacko" who was persuaded by talk radio of the error of his ways. He said he was so disgusted by the lack of pop on the Republican site in New Jersey that he decided to start his own.
"I disagree with the stereotype of Republicans as being the boardroom, cigar-smoking, stodgy white guys," he said, "and that anybody's who's Hollywood, music industry, celebrity, anyone who's supposed to be cool is always a leftist, liberal Democrat. So I'm trying to break down the stereotype - if you're young and go to parties you can still be a Republican."
The page might not play so well in Alabama, but in New Jersey, going up against Mr. Corzine's money and name recognition, a tiny coolness injection probably cannot hurt the party. So, for example, the official Republican site links to Mr. Schneider's. Family values or no, the party chairman, Tom Wilson, sounds unconcerned. "If that's what he wants to do, that's what a free market is all about," he said. "I'm not going to editorialize about someone else's Web site or make judgments if he uses pictures that show too much skin or someone's bikini is too small."
As for the honorees, they seem pleased. Ms. Andersen, a 24-year-old conservative writer, said that, fair or not, looks matter, and that if the feature draws people to read conservative thought, more power to it. "Conservative women are kind of proudly non-P.C., so if your looks can draw people to your words, why not play the game?"
Mr. Schneider added that his wife, initially a skeptic, ended up posing for last year's Babe of the Week calendar. He said that he didn't think there's much in even the skimpiest garb that would give offense.
"We like to call them pajamas," he said.
Nah. Been there, done that.
Bet you dollars to donuts: Photoshop.
Did an ad about 8 or 9 years ago for a local charity drive. It involved golfing and a convertible as grand prize. So. Golf = drive, top down = topless, and off we went.
The model was shot in a swimsuit top and jeans from the back (waist up). A quick pass with the cloning tool in photoshop, and presto. Pin up material.
We tease Kirsten about that pic. Luckily she's always been good-natured about it. :)
I'm still waiting to actually see a button or a bumper sticker that says that though.
Thank God she has a sense of humor.
:-)
Somebody find me a picture! My wife wears those boots (knee high leather w/stiletto heels).
The Secretary of State wearing 'her' heels would give her a kick!
May I take this opportunity to remind you that I live in the GREAT State of New Jersey...(and thanks for the pingaroonie).
Thanks for your tagline. Unnngh!
I don't know how to get the pics from my DVR to a computer file, or else I would.
Was it *really* necessary to post that entire list and all those pics to me? Much more considerate to post it to yourself or nobody, and then direct other people by pings to it.
Personally I wouldn't mind seeing a scantilly clad picture of Rummy - who says you have to be young to be sexy? :)
...and I'm pretty sure Vicki is a Pubbie.
I've never been able to figure out exactly what her secret is. And I read all those novellas she sends out, cover to cover. :^)
The truth is that Victoria's secret is that she is a he. The company is one of many owned by Leslie Wexner (who also founded the limited). Trust me, you do NOT want to see Mr. Wexner in lingerie.
An oxymoron if I've ever seen one. ;O)
"conservative chicks are much hotter than liberal ones."
I think it has a lot to do with the amount of grey matter between their ears.
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