Politics & Power Quote by Shannen Doherty

There is a particular kind of provocation in a 1990s TV icon planting a flag for Reagan-era conservatism: it scrambles the audience’s default story about Hollywood. Shannen Doherty’s line isn’t built to persuade; it’s built to declare. “I’m a conservative” functions less like a policy position than a persona move, a way of insisting she can’t be filed neatly under “actress = liberal” shorthand. In celebrity culture, politics often operates as branding, and this is a brand with edges: independence, contrarian energy, a refusal to be managed.

The second sentence does the real work. “Avid supporter” signals intensity and long-held identity, not a casual preference. Then the kicker: “I thought he was fabulous.” That word is doing double duty. It’s evaluative, not ideological; she’s praising Reagan as a figure, a performer, a vibe. Reagan was famously fluent in image and narrative, a former actor selling optimism with camera-ready conviction. Doherty’s “fabulous” quietly admits the power of that spectacle, where charisma can stand in for argument.

The subtext is also defensive. Celebrities announcing conservatism often anticipate backlash, so the tone leans breezy, almost playful, as if to disarm: don’t overthink it, I just liked him. It situates her within a cultural moment when star politics became part of the tabloid package - another way to be talked about, pushed against, or reinterpreted. The intent isn’t nuance; it’s permission to be complicated in public, even if the complexity is delivered in a sound bite.