Only One Candidate for President
The decent and honorable sheriff of Mayberry, North Carolina, passed away on Tuesday at the ripe old age of eighty-six. Andy Griffith gained his biggest claim to fame headlining "The Andy Griffith Show", which ran from 1960 to 1968 on CBS and lives on in syndication.
However, in the 1970s, when I first caught his star-turn in Elia Kazan's classic movie "A Face in the Crowd", I came to associate him more with the megalomaniac entertainer Lonesome Rhodes who wins the heart of Patricia Neal and America, before self-destructing.
I wasn't surprised to learn his single donation to a presidential candidate was his $1,000 check in 2004 to Sen. John Kerry, because even though I had never inquired about his political leanings I just couldn't believe he was a Republican. Until I checked his FEC file, I expected that if Griffith had made a donation to any White House hopeful it would have been fellow Southerner Jimmy Carter. Griffith also gave $1,000 to Sen. Terry Sanford (D-North Carolina).
Rest in peace Sheriff Taylor, and say hello for me to Aunt Bee and Barney Fife up there in heaven.
Don't forget that Andy Griffith also made a pretty funny pro-Obama web commercial in 2008, along with Ron Howard and Henry Winkler. Check it out when you get a chance.
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