***

Buffalo Chicken Dip
3 – 12.5 ounce cans of all-white meat chicken (drained)
3 – 8 ounce packages of cream cheese
1 cup of ranch dressing
12 ounce bottle of Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce (NOT hot sauce)
12 ounces of shredded Mexican cheese blend

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large pot or skillet, mix chicken, cream cheese, ranch dressing, and wing sauce on medium-low heat until combined and smooth. Mix in 1 cup of cheese. Transfer to 9 by 13 pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Serve with bite-size tortilla chips.
(Note: The original recipe I pilfered from a friend’s ex-boyfriend included diced celery, so feel free to add a cup if you’re a fan. I am not.)

Spinach and Artichoke Dip
1 package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained (press through colander several times until all water is removed)
1- 12 ounce can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients until combined and there are no large chunks of spinach. Transfer to 8 or 9 inch pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges start to brown.

Serve with tortilla chips, pita chips or crusty bread.

Hot Crab Dip
4 ounces of softened cream cheese
½ cup of mayonnaise
½ cup of sweet onions, chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
½ teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning
6 ounces of fresh or canned lump crabmeat, drained
5 crushed buttery crackers (like Keebler’s Club crackers)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Caramelize onions in small sauté pan with olive oil. Drain off any excess oil. Combine with cream cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice, Old Bay and crabmeat. Mix until all is incorporated and there are no big lumps of cream cheese. Transfer to small baking dish or crock. Sprinkle crushed crackers on top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until cracker topping is golden brown.

Serve with your favorite crackers. I like the Townhouse Flip Sides with this dip.

***

If you want to give your guests an entree in addition to appetizers and dips, go with something that is easy to make in large quantities.  I like chili with fixings (cheese, onion, Fritos, sour cream, etc.) or pulled pork with small potato rolls and cole slaw.  People will be filling up on appetizers all day, so no need to go all out on the entree.  Save some money by doing an entree that allows people to have as small or as large a portion as they want.

If you want to offer dessert, go simple.  A perfect batch of chocolate chip cookies beats most desserts.  Get a few pints of ice cream and have guests make their own ice cream sandwiches.  For a healthier option, make a fruit salad and let guests make it as bad as they want it — chocolate syrup, whipped cream (or Cool Whip), shortcake or biscotti.

Enjoy the game (and the commercials)!

“Call Your Girlfriend” by Robyn

“The Climb” by Miley Cyrus (Don’t make fun! It gets me going.)

“The Cave” by Mumford and Sons

“Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey (I actually skip this one sometimes. Cliche.)

“Party Hard” by Andrew WK (if this song was 6 hours long I could probably run a marathon… in theory)

“Precious Declaration” by Collective Soul

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen

“Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga

“The Boxer” by CarbonLeaf

“Waiting for the End” by Linkin Park

“Already Gone” by Kelly Clarkson

“F**kin’ Perfect” by P!nk

“Gives You Hell” by The American Rejects

“Hollywood” by Michael Buble

“In the End” by Linkin Park

“Life Less Ordinary” by CarbonLeaf 

“Little Lion Man” by Mumford and Sons

“Silver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac

“Let Your Troubles Roll By” by CarbonLeaf

This year my favorite thing to give away is the salted caramel sauce.  I found the recipe on the Epicurious iPhone app.  However, I made a few adjustments (adding vanilla, butter, sea salt) to give it a richer flavor.  It’s great on ice cream.  Enjoy!

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan. Stir medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat. Carefully add whipping cream (you may want to stand back — mixture will bubble vigorously). Add butter, sea salt, and vanilla. Stir with small whisk over low heat until all caramel bits are incorporated and sauce is smooth.

Over the last year I’ve gotten to know Chris Barron, the chairman of GOProud, and Jimmy LaSalvia, the executive director of GOProud. I was honored when they asked me to join the board and I’m honored to consider them friends. When friends get off track I don’t leave them. I stick by them and help them get back on the right track.

I respect that other members of the board have come to a different decision. They must do what they believe is right. I want to help GOProud refocus its message, do substantive events and activities, and repair their relationships with members of the conservative movement. When Jimmy assured me that they share these goals I decided to remain on the GOProud board.

The next several months will be important for GOProud’s future. I believe that Jimmy and Chris truly want to continue their mission of reaching out to gay conservatives and their allies. They have acknowledged to me that mistakes were made this week and that they want to move forward. For that, they still have my friendship and my advice to help make them stronger.

This year my list of stores includes a few favorites, as well as some new finds.  Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Li-Lac Chocolates
I learned about this company when two friends purchased it a few months ago.  They are legendary in New York.  You’ll find them in almost every New York travel guide as the best place for chocolate treats.  They are best-known for their molded chocolate figures like Easter bunnies, Santas and turkeys.  They also have a wide selection of other treats like bars, fudge, cream rolls and, my favorite, caramels.  Avoid the more well-known brands and surprise your friends with this New York favorite. (And feel free to send some my way!)

Homemade Gifts
‘Tis the season to save money when you can.  We all have people we don’t know that well that we have to shop for at Christmas.  Skip the “I don’t know you that well” gifts (candles, body lotion sets, etc.) and try some of these homemade ideas instead.  I really want to try the butterscotch sauce. Pair it with the perfect ice cream bowl (i.e. one that’s probably too big) and it will do more than collect dust in someone’s guest bathroom.

Perpetual Kid
This fun store makes it on my list every year.  I love them for stocking stuffers.  Some of my favorite items this year: Cupcake Handwarmer, Wonder Woman Apron, Personal Pie Maker, Jesus Shaves Mug and Animal Prints on Canvas Kit.  Full disclosure: I can’t name any of the things I actually bought this year because I don’t want to ruin surprises. 

Uncommon Goods
This is another site I included last year.  Favorites for 2011 include: Ticket Stub Diary, Tasting Plate, Knit Arm Warmers, Leaning Ladies Bookends, Custom Paw Print Necklace (I wish this was available when I had a dog), Candle Shadow Projectors, Dream Bank, and Cheesemaking Kit.

Etsy
My mom is very crafty and I love the idea of supporting people like her during the Christmas season.  Since the site is so extensive, I’ll just suggest some of my favorite sections: Pets, Crochet, and Geekery.

Amazon
I love Amazon.  They have everything.  Search for a dog breed or sports team and find lots of fun gifts.  Of course, I hear they also sell books.  Some of my favorite books to give this season:

• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

• The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond

• Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond (Kids)

• One Nation Under God: A Book for Little Patriots by Amelia Hamilton (Kids)

• Good Eats 1, 2, and 3 by Alton Brown

• 100 Yards of Glory: The Greatest Moments in NFL History by Various

• Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey by Bob McCabe

• Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer

I’m from the South, so since moving to the D.C. area I’ve had trouble with the concept of outerwear. I can’t get used to the idea of covering up a thoughtful outfit. I have 10 or so wool or wool-blend heavy coats, but nothing for rainy days or crisp Autumn mornings. I need the perfect trench coat. This was painfully obvious last week when on a rainy morning I walked into the Watergate for a job interview. Seriously, could there be a more perfect occasion for the perfect trench coat?

When I see someone in a trench coat on a rainy day I think, “There’s someone who has their life together.” The truth doesn’t matter.

So, what makes the perfect trench coat? For me, color should be camel or black, length above the knee, have pockets, and a wide belt. It also must be A-line. Not faux-A-line caused by a belt or hidden clamps in department store photo shoots.

I probably should have started with the Burberry classic trench coat as the baseline. But, as I mentioned, my most recent rainy day outing was for a job interview. So, maybe next year.

My first hit and miss was a black trench with a tiered hem. It’s shown to the left in red so you can see the detail. At first glance I thought it would give me the A-line I was looking for, but it’s still looked boxy. A belt is not enough. Trying it on, I couldn’t help but wonder how many trendy and below average trench coats I would buy over the next 10 years in place of a simple, $900 classic Burberry trench. I have to shake that thought out of my head. The tiers on the INC trench looked like an afterthought, not a design element to give shape, like most tiers. The material is also too shiny and has a wrinkled effect that, like the tiers, looks like an accident rather than purposeful. It’s going back to Macy’s.

Next up: London Fog’s classic trench. As Don Draper said, “London Fog is a 40 year old brand that sounds like it has been around forever.” Christina Hendricks is the new face of the London Fog campaign. This is a no-brainer. I found a beautiful double-breasted trench on sale at Macy’s online for $110. Plus, I have a 20% off coupon. As my friend Danielle would say, it’s like making money. From the photo, it looks like it may be a little long. I’m also not quite sure if it has an A-line. The pins and clamps that they use to make clothes look fitted in online photos have cost me thousands of dollars. The other trick photographers employ is flattering leg placement. When one leg is out it’s usually trying to look like an A-line even though it is not.

So, maybe it’s time to actually try some coats on and step away from my online-only addiction. One of my favorite stores in Old Town Alexandria is a high-end consignment shop called Beautyfull Boutique on Fayette Street. Before stopping by I decided to visit my friend, Audrey’s office. Lo and behold, laying across the leopard chaise in her office was a Burberry trench. I rationalized that if I, too, decided to go with a Burberry trench it would be an investment. Not only would I have something for rainy days, but I would also have a costume for life – detective, spy, pervert! The possibilities are endless!

Beautyfull Boutique didn’t yet have a huge number of coats since it’s early in the season. There was a black and white plaid trench that I considered, but it was only hip length and plaid isn’t my idea of a neutral. I also found a pink Saks label trench, but it was too small.

The London Fog trench coat from Macy’s has arrived. Not into it. The fabric is a little more treated than I expected. Also, despite the photo, it’s cut straight from the waist.

It looks like this case won’t be solved. Maybe trench coats aren’t for me. The same day the London Fog trench arrived I found out I didn’t get the job at the Watergate.

Ann Coulter
Tell me about the moment you decided to enter the political arena.
COULTER: It was a Thursday, I believe, in April. I had just gotten home from kindergarten and I realized that my teacher was just completely wrong on the causes and objectives of the Vietnam War.

Rep. Thad McCotter 
What pop culture souvenir do you own that people would be surprised to learn that you cherish?
MCCOTTER: Greg Gutfeld’s last shard of dignity.

Andy Levy
How do you think pop culture and entertainment affect people’s political beliefs?
LEVY: I don’t know if those things affect people’s actual political beliefs as much as they affect the way people look at the world. For example, we’ve been raised on a diet of movies that often portray businesspeople as evil and military personnel as crazy, and sadly, I think those attitudes have permeated our culture to a certain extent. (To be fair, people like Tony Hayward don’t help matters.)

But I think that when all is said and done, if you’re the kind of person who thinks Che Guevara was cool, a movie about him isn’t gonna change that. (Mainly because you’re a pus-swilling imbecile to begin with.) For whatever reason, I think that in the same way liberals and lefties are more likely to go into the entertainment business, they’re also more susceptible to it. But then again, I think liberals, despite the fact that they often consider themselves to be intellectuals and those who disagree with them to be sub-literate morons, also are far more susceptible to style over substance. (See: Obama, anybody named Kennedy, et. al.)

I mean, you just know that when Obama won, a ton of people who went with him to the White House were saying, “Dude, it’s gonna be just like ‘The West Wing.’” Which probably explains why a bunch of them are now leaving.

Michelle Malkin
What’s one of your favorite movie quotes?
MALKIN: Favorite movie quote of 2010: Barbie, Toy Story 3, “Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from the threat of force!”

Nick Gillespie
What’s your current “guilty pleasure” non-news television show?
GILLESPIE: I firmly agree with Michel Foucault and Mark Foley that pleasure is by definition guilty. I like watching “30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray” because I’m waiting for the episode where she doesn’t actually get her slop on the plate by the show’s end. You know what that smells like? It smells like victory.

And I like watching “The Secret Life of The American Teenager” on ABC Family, because it’s the last place in the world where kids are having sex.

But when I want a real break from serious current events programming, I watch MSNBC.

David Limbaugh
Tell me about the moment you decided to enter the political arena.
LIMBAUGH: I have been active in politics all my life, beginning in grade school, but I began writing columns during the Clinton impeachment era and things have progressed since. So there was no epiphany leading to all of this. Rush and I knew about Karl Marx, the Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital and such concepts as surplus value and dictatorship of the proletariat before we were in junior high. I once accused my 7th-grade math teacher of adopting a Marxist approach to his grading when he proposed to give everyone a C on a test—he was proposing to spread the wealth around a little bit. Not making that up. When Nixon lost to Kennedy in 1960 Rush wrote on the wall in our upstairs bedroom, Kennedy Won, darn; Nixon lost; shucks, or words to that effect. Not only did my dad not get mad; he probably welled up with pride. We’ve been into this stuff a long time.

Jen Lancaster
Tell me about the moment you decided to become more vocal about your political beliefs.
LANCASTER: As an author, I’m actually less vocal about my political beliefs than I used to be as a blogger. I was working to get my first book published during the 2004 elections and I wrote a lot of posts about my politics. Regardless of how articulate I thought I was, I found that I was winning neither hearts nor minds and I was losing readers. On top of that, my agent warned me that being so forthcoming could keep editors from wanting to buy my book, so I stopped. I hated the idea of silencing myself but I was willing to do so in order to start a writing career.

As years have passed and I’ve built a fan base, I’ve become far less cryptic about my political beliefs. Readers know what I stand for, but that’s not something I stress in my writing, at least directly. I try hard not to let my politics become divisive. Rather, through my books I want people to see that even though we might vote differently, we still have many of the same interests and goals and feelings. I have so many readers tell me, “You’re the first conservative I’ve ever liked.” Convincing others that conservatism isn’t evil is the first step in getting others to open their minds to opposing ideas.

No one’s going to be won over by my spouting dogma in my books because that’s not why people buy my stuff. I don’t write essays on why liberalism doesn’t work or why Obama’s taking us down a slippery slope. People read my books to laugh, so that’s my goal. But if my goofy little stories just happen to emphasize conservative values like morality, self-determination, and liberty, well… let’s just say that’s not unintentional.

Andrew Breitbart
What’s the coolest thing you’ve been able to do because of your role in the political arena?
Exposing the organized Left is my fetish. Watching John Podesta’s entire well-funded Sorosian empire alter its day planner around my work to expose them as duplicitous and dangerous is pure joy. On a nonpolitical, non-job-oriented note, I’ve gotten to know a bunch of professional baseball players. I like hanging with middle relievers best. If I wasn’t in politics-based media, I’d have been quite happy pitching in the seventh inning in moderately close games.

Grover Norquist
Tell me about the moment you decided to enter the political arena.
NORQUIST: Not certain, but head hurt, everything quite sticky, and older voice said, “It’s a boy.”

Jedediah Bila
Tell me one of your favorite conservative-at-a-Manhattan-cocktail-party stories.
BILA: I hate the cocktail party scene, so I typically avoid it at all costs. However, every now and then I have to attend one. Last year, I was invited to a party on the Upper East Side by some of the left-wing elite’s finest. The air-conditioning system went out and it was about 100 degrees in their apartment. There were whining, screeching women EVERYWHERE. Someone had to make it stop.

So, in the midst of listening in on a third discussion about the “intellectual rock” that is Barack Obama—and trying my best to ignore the screeches—I removed my button-down shirt to reveal a “Reagan Was Right” baby tee. The silence felt so good.

Since the column has now come to an end, I decided to answer my own questions.  Some of them were harder than I thought, so kudos to all of those who gave thoughtful answers and to those who read them!

1. If there was a television channel that only showed one movie over and over, what movie should it be?
LOTUS: The Godfather I and II. Every time it’s on I have to watch it. There’s no reason to channel surf because it’s guaranteed to be the best thing on TV.

2. What’s one of your favorite movie quotes?
LOTUS: “My offer is this: Nothing.” – Michael Corleone, The Godfather II

Side note: I have two sides to my personality – Sonny and Michael. The hard part is figuring out when to be Michael and when to be Sonny.

Side note, part II: Favorite Godfather scene is when Kay tells Michael she had an abortion in The Godfather II.

3. In A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell is strapped in with his eyes propped open and forced to watch images until he was “cured.” If you could give President Obama the “Clockwork Orange treatment,” what movie would you make them watch?
LOTUS: Most answer this question with conversion in mind. I think we’re beyond a cure, so I would have to go for punishment and see this video of the President’s ums and ahs.

4. What pop culture souvenir do you own that people would be surprised to learn that you cherish?
 LOTUS: I have a paper target that I shot up and got Ted Nugent to sign. Oh, and my talking Ann Coulter doll. [Update: There’s one available on eBay here.]

5. What’s your current “guilty pleasure” non-news television show?
LOTUS: It would be impossible to only name one show. The short list: Dance Moms (Lifetime), Project Runway (Lifetime), The Rachel Zoe Project (Bravo), Millionaire Matchmaker (Bravo) and reruns of The Golden Girls (Hallmark).

6. Which movie, television or rock star would cause you to lose your ability to speak if you ever met?
LOTUS: Russell Crowe (easiest question on the list)

7. What was the first rock concert you ever attended and where did you sit and who went with you?
LOTUS: When I wrote this question it was because I had in mind the first concert I ever had tickets for – REM in 1995. I grew up in Tallahassee, FL and only country singers and groups came to the Civic Center. I was so excited that my favorite band was finally coming to town. About a week before the concert, a hurricane came through the panhandle and tore the roof off the Civic Center. I was devastated. Consequently, I don’t remember what my actual first concert was. I’m sure it was something at Floyd’s Music Store in Tallahassee. Probably a local band like Creed or Sister Hazel.

8. Tell me about a public or private moment when you thought to yourself, “This is what Elvis felt like every day.”
LOTUS: In 2009 I had the honor of introducing Rush Limbaugh at CPAC. I don’t think my time at the podium was Elvis-like, but when Rush’s intro music started and the crowd went wild I experienced Elvis-by-osmosis.

9. What is your cell phone ring tone?
LOTUS: The theme from The Godfather. If I really put my mind to it, I could probably answer every question with a Godfather reference.

10. What’s the coolest thing you’ve been able to do because of your role in the political arena?
There are really so many amazing things I’ve done over the last 12 years. Shopping at Target with Ann Coulter, meeting Rush Limbaugh, walking through a Vegas casino with Ted Nugent, seeing Donald Trump’s hair up close.

11. What is your favorite home-cooked meal?
I once wrote a food diary for Washingtonian magazine and joked that I must have been born at a bridge game because I love snack foods more than meals. I would rather eat cheese and crackers or chips and guacamole than a regular meal. My absolute favorite thing to eat is homemade Chex mix. Three kinds of Chex, mixed nuts (no peanuts), Cheez-its, minimal pretzels.

UPDATE: I should have included some home-cooked items from others.  I love my dad’s sauce and meatballs that are the size of tennis balls and my mom’s carrot cake. 

12. Tell me about the moment you decided to enter the political arena.
It was March 1999 and I went to D.C. for a long weekend during my college’s abbreviated “spring pause” (my college was in Florida and less than two miles from the beach, so they reasoned we didn’t really deserve a full spring break). I had it in my mind that I was going to find a job before graduating from college. I originally wanted a job with a newspaper or magazine. I ended up being interviewed for a program director position at a conservative organization. It included writing their newsletter and designing a website for them. It was a good starting point for learning how conservative organizations work even though the pay was awful. After 12 years split between two organizations, I’ve appreciated the experience, but I’m done with the non-profit world. On to the next challenge!

Hoover is the great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover and a frequent contributor to Fox News. On the book, Bill O’Reilly said, “It is not her great-grandfather’s Republican Party anymore. And Margaret Hoover has written a book that old Herbert would enjoy. Sassy, opinionated, and smart, Ms. Hoover shakes up conventional GOP wisdom.”

Hoover is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College. She worked for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004 and then was deputy press secretary to Representative Mario Diaz-Balart. She was later appointed to a position in the White House and was a senior advisor to the deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.

Both Hoover and I serve on the advisory council of GOProud, an organization that represents gay conservatives and their allies. Jimmy LaSalvia, cofounder and executive director of GOProud told me, “Very few conservatives articulate policy and our philosophy of government better than Margaret. She is the perfect messenger who has crafted the perfect message to make a case to younger voters about why conservative policies are good for all Americans, including them. We’re very lucky to have her on our side.”

American Individualism isn’t about changing the principles of conservatism. It reminds readers that the conservative movement came together as a coalition of many factions – fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, paleoconservatives, neoconservatives, and new to the movement, tea partiers and crunchy cons. Hoover highlights this quote from conservative historian George H. Nash, “Historically, [the conservative movement] has been a river of thought and activism fed by many tributaries: a wide and sometimes muddy river, but one with great power, so long as the tributaries flowed into the common stream.”

In order to win elections, conservatives need to embrace the strategy of President Reagan, accept all conservatives into the coalition and coalesce around a common enemy – rising socialism in America. Hoover’s new book, American Individualism, provides valuable advice for all of those who want to win elections and win hearts.

1. If there was a television channel that only showed one movie over and over, what movie should it be?
HOOVER: “Lost in Translation” with Bill Murray and early Scarlet Johansson.

2. What’s one of your favorite movie quotes?
HOOVER: Treasure of the Sierra Madre: “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!”

3. In A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell is strapped in with his eyes propped open and forced to watch images until he was “cured.” If you could give President Obama, the “Clockwork Orange treatment,” what movie would you make him watch?
HOOVER: Personally, I loved An American Carol, for all the reasons that President Obama would hate it. Would it cure him? I think laughter can cure almost anything.

4. What pop culture souvenir do you own that people would be surprised to learn that you cherish?
HOOVER: A Shakira poster from her first US tour in the late ‘90s. But I loved her all-Spanish albums the best from when she was a teen in Columbia. She’s hopelessly left-wing, but conservatives rarely have the luxury of our favorite artists agreeing with our politics.

5. What’s your current “guilty pleasure” non-news television show?
HOOVER: The Daily Show and C-Span Book TV.

6. What canceled TV show would you put back on the air?
HOOVER: I wasn’t allowed to watch TV growing up, but would sneak Mad About You and loved Helen Hunt.

7. One mainstay in politics are the grip-and-grin photos that line people’s walls and desks. What grip-and-grin photo do you cherish the most?
HOOVER: Me and Ronald Reagan in 1992 when Gipper came to rededicate the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. He inscribed it (let’s be honest, it’s probably auto-pen) “To Margaret Hoover with best wishes, Ronald Reagan”. In my book I talk a lot about how Reagan won the youth vote but the oldest millennials don’t remember him, so need to be careful harkening back to him all the time if we want to connect. But since you asked…

8. What was the first rock concert you ever attended and where did you sit and who went with you?
HOOVER: Red Rocks for a Samples concert with my best friends. I’m from Colorado, and the Samples were a home grown Boulder band— One of the best things to come from the People’s Republic of Boulder.

9. What books are on your summer reading list?
HOOVER: What?!? I get to read whatever I want now that I’m done writing a book?! I actually have a stack by my bed I get to read for fun when I’m done with my book tour. Girl With a Dragon Tattoo has been waiting for me for months.

10. What’s your quirkiest ringtone?
HOOVER: I have a blackberry so ring tones are unoriginal. I’m terrible at answering the phone, so I keep it on the loudest, most obnoxious ring possible that sings like a carnival on Ritalin which forces me to check who is calling.

11. If Republicans and Democrats had theme songs for 2011 what would they be?
HOOVER: Republicans: Takin’ Care of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive
Dems: Slip Sliding Away by Paul Simon

12. Tell me about the moment you decided to enter the political arena.
HOOVER: My first job after graduating from college was in Taipei, Taiwan where I worked at a Taiwanese law firm as an editor and policy research assistant. The day I arrived in Taiwan to begin my new life was September 11, 2001. From that day on, I decided I wanted nothing more than to participate in the functioning of American democracy. I eventually returned stateside and made my way to Washington, DC.

(Note: The “De Pasquale’s Dozen” is a regular feature I have done for Human Events.  In in the column I interview political leaders about non-political, pop culture questions.  Yes, I know there are more important issues in the world.  This is meant to be fun!) 

Like Jimmy LaSalvia and Christopher Barron at GOProud, Coulter relishes in getting under the skin of hateful liberals. “Ann Coulter is a brilliant and fearless leader of the conservative movement, we are honored to have her as part of GOProud’s leadership,” said Christopher Barron, Chairman of GOProud’s Board. “Ann helped put our organization on the map. Politics is full of the meek, the compromising and the apologists – Ann, like GOProud, is the exact opposite of all of those things. We need more Ann Coulters.”

Unfortunately, there is still only one Ann Coulter.  I went straight to her for her thoughts on joining the GOProud and the one question every gay conservative wants to know…

Why did you accept GOProud’s invitation to become “Honorary Chair and Gay Icon” of their Advisory Council?

COULTER: Because of my commitment to the gay right-wing community and because it included a champagne brunch.

If a gay friend is on the fence about voting Republican in 2012, what would you tell him or her?

COULTER: If he has a business, a job, property or any money, he should vote Republican. If not, feel free to vote Dem. Also, remind them: Bankrupt cities don’t have parades.

Since you’re now on the GOProud Advisory Council, what advice would you give them for dealing with liberals?

COULTER: When you talk about things like debt ratios, capital gains taxes, and entitlement reform, use a lot of hand gestures and ‘gay it up’ a little — that confuses the hell out of liberals. Also, quote me a lot. That makes some of them mad, some will cry, but you’ll win the argument.

Finally, on an issue of vital importance to the gay community, are you a Samantha, Charlotte, Miranda or Carrie?

COULTER: I’m not a gay male, so I’m not any of them. I like to think of myself as … SHAFT!