One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Hillary: HBO's 'Veep' Is Actually Helping My Campaign
Hillary in the limelight (via Getty Images)
Hillary Clinton credits Hollywood with making her second run for the presidency easier than her first, thanks to recent on-screen portrayals of women in politics.
The popularity of shows like Veep and Madam Secretary—which portray a woman as president and secretary of state, respectively—have helped open voters' minds to a woman running the country, Clinton told The Des Moines Register. Clinton points to a significant cultural shift that has occurred since her 2008 bid for office, due in part to these and other shows. Clinton tells the Register:
A lot of different cultural references, which I find both fascinating and kind of reinforcing, because it does take a leap of faith, of imagination, for people to envision a woman in the Oval Office, and oftentimes culture, entertainment is ahead of the political system in lots of ways.
While Clinton largely avoided addressing the gender barrier in her previous campaign, she says she now feels more confident about addressing the issue as a central theme now. She also believes that people are more interested in hearing about it, thanks in part to Hollywood helping to further the dialogue.
Hillary will be returning to Los Angeles later this week for another round of fundraising, so we can expect to hear her thanking Hollywood again soon. We're still just waiting for Katy Perry to write that campaign song that she promised.
In the meantime, if you haven't been keeping up with Veep, you can see how the show's star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, handles the Oval Office in the latest season that just wrapped:
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
