Stanhope to join 50-State Club

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on October 10th, 2007

Doug Stanhope is gigging tonight in Delaware. Not exactly earth-shattering news, but the First State is one of four states that Stanhope has never played. He’s got the other three coming up on his schedule. He will finally join the 50-State Club when he’s finished– a distinction that has eluded him despite 17 years in the business.

The Wilmington News Journal interviews him and asks him why he dropped his bid for POTUS:

The deal-breaker was the FCC. Sorry, I mean the FEC [Federal Election Commission.] It’s usually the FCC. I couldn’t talk about my campaign on stage without any of the money I made being considered a campaign contribution rather than personal income. Just minor violations of the FEC could be six figures. It was too risky. I [mess up] too much in a day to chance six-figure fines.

We welcome Stanhope to the 50-state club!

Both Halves of the Staff have been members for some time now. (The Female Half snagged Tennessee back a few years ago and the Male Half added Iowa to his schedule to complete the set in 2002 or thereabouts.) Most folks have trouble adding Alaska or Hawaii. Many have trouble collecting all the New England states. Adding Montana and the Dakotas is not for the faint of heart. You’ll recall that the Hell Gig America boys did the deed in a mere 50 days. When Stanhope is done, it will have taken him 120 times as long!