Porn Star Drops Senate Run

Louisiana-born porn star Stormy Daniels won't be running for the US Senate after all. In an e-mailed statement, Daniels said she simply can't afford to challenge David Vitter. She also compared herself to Sarah Palin, complaining that the media never took her interest in the race seriously. "Simply because I did not fit in their mold of what an independent working woman should be, the media and political elite have sought to relegate my sense of civic responsibility to mere sideshow antics."

Daniels recently declared herself a convert to the GOP with a press release making light of news that the RNC had picked up a nearly $2,000 tab at a sex-themed California nightclub. But her political publicity has been handled by a Democratic operative. At the end of the latest filing period, Vitter had $5 million in campaign cash on hand, compared with $2.3 million for his Democratic rival, U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon. (More Stormy Daniels stories.)