TAMPA - Wicked Pictures contract performer/director Stormy Daniels made waves this past week with the launch of a grass-roots online campaign to place her in the 2010 Louisiana Senate race against GOP incumbent David Vitter.
Sen. Vitter was exposed in 2007 as one of the adulterous Capitol Hill clients on a list kept by "D.C. Madam" Deborah Palfrey, thanks in part to an investigation backed by HUSTLER publisher Larry Flynt.
The website DraftStormy.com doesn't reference Vitter's indiscretions, but the implication is there. Announcing "a storm that's gonna sweep Louisiana clean of corrupt politicians once and for all," the campaign hinges on the notion that an honest, intelligent adult film actress has more integrity than a married Republican politician who dallied with prostitutes on the down-low.
A statement on the website declares: "Stormy's real world experience and special understanding of the economic hardships facing Louisianans and Americans make her uniquely qualified to take on the tough challenges we face. We eschew partisanship and labels, instead judging our leaders on their integrity, character and effectiveness. By all three of these measures, Stormy Daniels stands above the rest."
Baton Rouge native Daniels has no affiliation with DraftStormy.com, nor does Wicked Pictures.
The campaign originated last November in New Orleans with the anonymous posting of a Craigslist ad seeking an over-30 female candidate "with a history in some aspect of the adult entertainment industry who has taken the benefit of that experience, both monetarily and otherwise, and translated it into success in their later career."
Promising the prospective candidate "an experienced campaign staff with a finance and media teams," the ad asked applicants to submit "a 200-word description telling us who you are and why you think you are the ideal candidate to challenge David Vitter."
In January, another Craigslist post announced that after an "exhaustive review process," the anonymous campaign organizers had found their woman. Following another search - this time for "energetic field organizers" - the Draft Stormy website launched with a statement to the press.
Through all of this, Stormy and Wicked Pictures have remained silent. Word has it that Wicked execs learned of the campaign after the Draft Stormy site launched.
Wicked's publicist Heth Mares and Stormy's right-hand man Mike Moz both declined to comment on the record about Stormy's Senatorial prospects. But inside sources say a run at Vitter isn't out of the question for the director of Operation Desert Stormy.
Alex "Monstar" Raymond, Moz's partner in the porn PR firm The Star Factory, offered a few sound-bites on the subject.
"While I can't speak for Stormy or Wicked, I believe it would be a good thing for our industry as a whole if she decided to run," Raymond told AVN. "She's campaigned for ASACP and the RTA labeling initiative to protect kids from seeing online porn, and she always comes across really well. Her interview with Martin Bashir on Nightline is another example. Mark Kulkis' gubernatorial campaign for Mary Carey was a brilliant move, but I think Stormy would put a more serious face on it. She really does care about the issues."
Stormy is expected to speak to the press about her political intentions next week.
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Meanwhile, AVN caught up with Stormy herself in the wake of another PR hurricane that spun out of her appearance at a Super Bowl bash in Tampa hosted by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.
While P. Diddy was late to his own party, Stormy spoke to reporters and paparrazzi outside the club. The Tampa Tribune quoted Stormy as saying that she plans to quit porn after two more years to pursue a mainstream entertainment career.
"The article was half-right," Stormy told AVN. "I told the [Tribune] I'm really excited about moving behind the camera to direct a mainstream movie. I've been directing adult movies for almost five years, and this spring I may get the chance to direct a horror script I wrote."
Naturally, the Tribune reporter asked if this meant the end of Stormy's porn career.
"What I said was, yes, everyone has to retire eventually," Stormy told AVN. "The natural progression of nature and gravity is going to dictate that I'll no longer be in front of the camera one day. Getting old does not look good in HD! But I've just renewed my contract with Wicked, and I'm never going to leave adult, even when I stop performing."
When pressed for details on her horror flick, Stormy told AVN she hopes to shoot for three weeks this spring in the New Orleans area. She's lined up a tentative cast that includes some bona fide names from the horror genre, but can't publicly reveal those details until the project is fully green-lit.
"It's not yet finalized, but if this mainstream film comes through, I'll be out [of porn] for a month and then coming back full-force to promote Operation Tropical Stormy," she said. "I don't know what my next adult directorial projects will be, but I'm performing in two movies for Wicked in March."
But what about the most important factor: Diddy?
"He asked my waitress for a drink – that was about it," Stormy said. "I was unfazed. He was busy; I can't form any opinion of him, and I know I don't like it when people form an opinion about me in that sort of situation. He was in and out, so I saw him for maybe 20 minutes – I was actually more excited to meet some of the Tampa Rays baseball team."
And if her horror flick takes off...will Stormy make a Jenna Jameson move, closing her legs to the porn industry forever?
"I will close my legs, but my heart will always be open," she laughed.
