2004----Strip Clubs Urge Patrons to Vote Against Bush

Old news but very interesting.

Strip Clubs Urge Patrons to Vote Against Bush

NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, May 20, 2004

BELOIT, Wis. – Owners of strip clubs are putting a little bada-bing in the presidential campaign by asking patrons to turn their eyes away from the stage for a moment to fill out a voter registration form and then vote against President Bush.

"It's not to say our industry loves John Kerry or anything like that," said Dave Manack, associate publisher of E.D. Publications, which publishes Exotic Dancer magazine. "But George Bush, if he's re-elected, it could be very damaging to our industry."

Fearful that conservatives might turn off the colored lights for good, a trade organization for adult night clubs is asking owners to register customers and employees and then encourage them to cast their ballots against the president. Micheal Ocello, president of Association of Club Executives, said the group believed the president's brand of conservatism was bad for business.

"We must do everything within our power to help ensure that Bush and his ultra conservative administration are removed from the White House," Ocello wrote in a letter to nearly 4,000 club owners. "If we are to survive, we must act now."

Heather Layman, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said she didn't know why the businesses would consider the president unfriendly to their industry. In its own voter-registration drive this year, the GOP has registered more than 1 million people.

"I have to admit that the strip club owners are not a group we targeted," Layman said.

Adult night clubs rake in an estimated $15 billion annually and employ 500,000 to 750,000 people, Manack said.

In southern Wisconsin, more than 200 people have registered in the past month at the bar Diamond Jim's and the strip club Isabella Queen, both located between Janesville and Beloit. They are the first of Wisconsin's 80 strip clubs to provide voter registration services.

"I'm actually fighting for my survival," said Jim Halbach, who owns the establishments. "That's the way I look at it

Strip Clubs Urge Patrons to Vote Against Bush