RuPaul greeted each person in the crowd, inside and outside the diner commenting on and complimenting various personal attributes. (One girl asked for a picture. “I’m short,” she said, standing next to him. “You’re not short. You’re perfect,” he replied.) Every few minutes he’d utter his “I am not running for president!” line. As he made his way down the counter, extending his hand to every patron, he reminded them, of course, that he is RuPaul, not, Ron Paul.
Standing along the wall, a 19-year-old boy from Boston wearing rhinestone-studded stilettos, a pearl necklace and earrings and a mink stole waited patiently to see his hero. His name? “Gee-Gee Louise,” he said, the “world’s only drag burlesque dancer.” “I’m technically a drag queen,” he said before getting his picture taken with RuPaul. “But I take my clothes off.”
Several feet away, an old man stood alone, watching the scene unfold from a safe distance. “I came to catch the flavor of the campaign,” he said. “I was thinking more along the lines of Rick Santorum.”
Eventually, RuPaul wrapped up inside and stepped back out into the frosty morning. “You betta vote!” he whooped at the cheering crowd. “Remember, this country was founded by a bunch of men wearing wigs!”
Yet, for entertainment’s sake, I planned a little test to verify that RuPaul is definitely not Ron Paul. He agreed to meet with me in Manchester’s Palace Theater, just a few blocks from the diner.
How do you feel about the printing of fiat money?
“Fiat? I do love that new J-LO car! I do love that.”
Where do you stand on the merits of lowering the marginal tax rate to boost growth?
“I usually stand on six-inch platforms. It’s actually not as tall as it looks.”
Who is more fabulous? The economist John Maynard Keynes or Frederich Hayek?
“You better work!”
What does that mean?
“That’s drag for no comment,” a camera guy said.
Any predictions for the New Hampshire primaries or the general election?
“I’m not really a psychic…I’m more of a psycho, really.”
I also listed the names of candidates and asked RuPaul to say what first popped into his head. Ron Paul “Hotness!” Rick Perry “Feeeeeverrrrr!” Newt Gingrich “Uh-huh! That’s right!”
