Wisconsin Strip Club Offers Free Lap Dance If You Register To Vote

Getting people to the polls (or should that be poles?) has taken on a whole new meaning:

A gentleman’s club in GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s hometown is hoping to help swell the electoral rolls, offering up some gratis gyrating to anyone who fills out a voter registration form on-site.

(…)

The popular Janesville, Wis., strip joint—fans praised it on an adult entertainment forum for being “very clean,” maintaining a “laid back atmosphere” and presenting “the most attractive women”—reportedly snared more than 200 politically inactive patrons ahead of the 2008 presidential contest.

It’s for America, people!

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. michael reynolds says:

    Great, another GOP voter registration effort.

  2. al-Ameda says:

    the Koch brothers will stop at nothing ….

  3. Trust me gentlemen strip clubs are entirely non-partisan

  4. ernieyeball says:

    Looks like the Pansexual Peace Party might be behind this!

    http://www.freewebs.com/pansexualppp/

  5. ernieyeball says:

    @Doug Mataconis:Trust me gentlemen strip clubs are entirely non-partisan

    Is that so?
    When I type in a Google search Republican Strip Club, the #1 link is:
    Republican National Committee spent nearly $2,000 at West Hollywood strip club
    When I type in Democrat Strip Club #1 is:
    Tampa Strip Clubs See Big Bucks In GOP Convention Hordes

  6. Tim says:

    So many commenters on this blog fall into the category of “if it’s something I don’t like, the Republicans must be for it or behind it.” It’s getting to be a bit tiring gentleman.

    I agree with Doug. Strip joints are non-partisan. They are frequented by low lifes (IMHO) of all political parties.

    Let the knee-jerk “dislike” button pushing begin!!!

  7. ernieyeball says:

    @Tim: So many commenters on this blog fall into the category of “if it’s something I don’t like, the Republicans must be for it or behind it.”

    Instead of these wild eyed accusations why don’t you just go ahead and start naming names.

    It’s getting to be a bit tiring gentleman.(sic)

    So the girls who post here must all meet with your approval.

  8. Scott O says:

    From the Janesville, Wis., strip joint’s web site:

    Featuring the BEST LOOKING GIRLS in the area!

    That sounds to me like the tyranny of low expectations.

  9. Neil Hudelson says:

    I can say from personal experience that this is, indeed, a democratic strip club. The owner of this fine establishment is one of my best friends uncle. My friend is a democratic operative in Wisconsin. The whole family are staunch democrats.

  10. Bob Davis says:

    We are going to rent a few buses and try to bring a few hundred people out from the Racine (RAY-cine, as FLOTUS calls it) and Kenosha areas.

    We’ll all wear Tea Party shirts and just buy the minimum drink order.

    We’ll call it “a bachelor party”. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

  11. Tim says:

    @ernieyeball

    Yes, you caught me using singular instead of plural. I’m sure you are very proud.

    I don’t have to name names. They all know who they are.

    And I didn’t make a mistake with gender. From what I’ve seen, the women who post here are among the more thoughtful writers, giving and taking in the discussion more reasonably than those who go for cheap, meanspirited comments.

    I took michael reynolds’ and al-Ameda’s comments for what they were, humorous jabs at Republican expense. You, however, weighed-in a bit too seriously, trying too hard to use Google, of all things, to paint Republicans with a broad brush.

    Let go of the hate man! Look around. You might find that the average Republican isn’t some radical Tea Party idiot and is perhaps even a bit more moderate than you think.

    Oh, and ernie….. “girls”??? Really? How progressive of you!

  12. ernieyeball says:

    Damn, I must have hit one of Timmy’s nerves!!!

    Really would like to see any place I have ever stated that average Republicans are “radical Tea Party idiot(s)”…(although I have to admit it does have a certain resonance to it doesn’t it).

  13. ernieyeball says:

    Oh yeah Timmy…at 64 most of the females I know are younger than me.
    But I call all of them girls. They are free to chastize me if they want to.
    None of them ever do.
    You can be sure I am not going to let you control my speech!

  14. JoshB says:

    @ernieyeball:

    Side story: I work in Tampa and my office ended up at one of the better strip clubs on Friday, the week of the RNC (I have a very non-traditional workplace). There were a lot of very disappointed dancers, as they came in from around the state expecting booming business. One girl said that she only made $40 that entire week and it was a lot less crowded than usual (and the few that did come in were VERY concerned about discretion). I suspect someone put the fear of god in the attendees since Tampa has a very specific reputation.

  15. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @ernieyeball: Still laughing.

  16. ernieyeball says:

    @JoshB:
    At $3.50/gal. $40 will almost fill up a Ford Focus. Sounds like a decent take to me!

  17. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @Tim:

    Let go of the hate man! Look around. You might find that the average Republican isn’t some radical Tea Party idiot and is perhaps even a bit more moderate than you think.

    Tim, you sound like a moderate Republican. Look around. You are surrounded by radical Tea Party idiots. What are you going to do about it? Vote straight GOP?

    Tell me again just exactly who the idiots in the GOP are?

  18. Davebo says:

    Living in the strip club capital of America I can honestly say that in my experience in such places, well the nicer ones anyway, patrons fall into two groups.

    1. Men with generous expense accounts who for some reason believe that showing customers some T&A will close that big deal (it probably won’t but the most likely will avail themselves of said expense account).

    2. Men who are just trying to help those poor girls get through grad school. No.. really…

  19. Brian Paone says:

    This is illegal though, isn’t it? Last I checked, Federal law barred the offering of incentives for voter registration if there’s a Federal contest on that year’s ballot. I believe the relevant law is 42 U.S.C. § 1973i(c), but I’m not an attorney.

    Anyone out there with better knowledge of the law that can comment?