Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas October 2, 2008

“Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas” is a staged reading starring Wendie Malick and Charles Shaughnessy. It will be hosted by Katrina vanden Heuvel to benefit THE NATION Magazine. Robert Redford and John Cusack are Honorary Hosts for the evening. A panel discussion with Katrina vanden Heuvel will follow, which will be moderated by Judy Muller. There will be a reception afterward in the Landmark Wine Bar. “Don’t Blame Me….”
follows Helen from an entitled Republican and successful stage actress to an incorruptible liberal congresswoman who stood for education, internationalism, feminism and integration and finally to the 1950 Senate race where Nixon’s anti-Communist / anti-Semitic smear campaign ended her political career.

“Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas”: Historians say that politics as we know it changed as a result of a California Senate race in 1950. That’s when a young Richard

Nixon falsely accused his opponent, the beautiful, three-term liberal congresswoman and ex-Broadway and opera star, Helen Gahagan Douglas, of being a Communist. Nixon earned the
name “Tricky Dick,” Helen was dubbed the “Pink Lady.” He ascended to the Presidency… until Watergate. She was forgotten… until now.

This four actor (one plays multiple roles) play, set in Hollywood and Washington D.C., builds to that dirty, dramatic race while telling the cautionary personal tale of Helen, a flawed and remarkable heroine.