For Stormy Daniels, Monday Was Not Her First Dance in Washington
Stephanie Clifford partook in advocacy campaign in 2008 and explored Senate run in 2009
Monday’s performance at the Cloakroom DC strip club was not Stormy Daniels’ first trip to Washington.
In May of 2008, Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection invited Stephanie Clifford (a.k.a. adult film actress and director Stormy Daniels) to the National Press Club to speak about efforts by the adult film industry to protect children from inappropriate material and encourage using a “Restricted to Adults” label on certain websites.
“Making the PSA for the RTA label was not just something that I wanted to do, but something I felt was an obligation, being part of the adult entertainment industry comes with many responsibilities, and I hope that by taking an active role in protecting minors I will inspire others in my business to follow my lead,” Daniels said back in 2008.
In 2009, she thought about returning again, nearly running for U.S. Senate in her home state of Louisiana against David Vitter after his involvement in the “D.C. Madame” prostitution scandal.
She planned to run as a Republican championing a flat tax proposal, according to Vox.
“Today, I am excited to announce that I am taking the next step in exploring a possible run for United States Senate,” Daniels said in a 2009 statement. “To this end, I have formed an exploratory committee to gauge Louisianans’ support for my potential candidacy.”
Ultimately Daniels decided not to run, likening herself to Gov. Sarah Palin in the sense that the political elite wouldn’t take her seriously.
“Simply because I did not fit in their mold of what an independent working woman should be, the media and political elite have sought to relegate my sense of civic responsibility to mere sideshow antics,” Daniels said in a statement.
While President Donald Trump announced Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee to the Supreme Court, Daniels’ Monday performance attracted swaths of journalists hoping it would turn out to be much more of a political statement than it did.
“It’ll be at least another hour before the club starts to feel less like an especially awkward press conference,” said Reason reporter Elizabeth Nolan Brown of her arrival at the performance.
Daniels reportedly shied away from her political advocacy of the past and made no references to the Trump administration during her performance.
