Neither the Republicans or Democrats are likely to ask Gene Simmons for an endorsement — the lizard-tongued founder of the glam-rock band KISS says both political parties despise him.
"In certain areas I will agree – foreign policy, conservative fiscal program — I am probably more on President [George W.] Bush's side. I don't believe Democrats have done a good job of taking care of the economy," Simmons told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"However, social areas and separation of church and state and gay rights and all that stuff, I have a problem with the right. So both parties hate me!"
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That said, Simmons revealed he voted for President Barack Obama twice, the first time, because, "I wanted to be on the right side of history," and the second, because he was disappointed in former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
"Unfortunately, Govenor Romney can't keep his foot out of his mouth and part and parcel of being a world leader is being able to communicate," Simmons said.
"Ronald Reagan was a great communicator and Governor Romney — although he was much more qualified than our president to be in the job — just couldn't put a sentence forward without turning everybody off."
Simmons — who along with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss, skyrocketed to fame in the 1970s with their outrageous act featuring devilish makeup, fire breathing, and blood spitting — said it's hard to believe KISS has thrived for nearly 40 years.
"A long time ago we were four knuckleheads off the street who had a dream to put together the band we never saw on stage," Simmons said.
"We promised ourselves we would never go [out] with our stacked heels, sort of hifalutin in thinking we're something special. Anytime you meet a fan … make them feel special because at the end of the day anyone that works on the stage works for the fans. Without the fans we're nothing. That's really what it's about."
He chalked up the band's thunderous success — with multimillion-selling albums and chart-topping hits like "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Beth" — to "good old fashioned hard work."
"When we started, there was no MTV or VH1. There were no CDs, no DVDs, no XYZ … This is before even cassettes," he said.
"What we did is we took our case to the people the old fashioned way knocking on door after door and getting up on stage after stage and proving to people who and what we are. We earned our stripes. What made us big? The fans. How did we do it? Hard work. There's no easy answer. It's not like winning the lottery. We worked for it."
Simmons, whose antics on stage once outraged parents, says the uproar over pop star Miley Cyrus and the crude sexual dance moves she made with Robin Thicke during a performance at the at VMA Awards, is out of place.
"If you believe in equal treatment under the law, then everybody's picking on her for the wrong thing. Either you condemn all of the divas for sticking their tongues out and kissing the girls, for showing boob, or anything of that, or Miley's allowed to be Miley," he said.
"You can't pick on her if you're going to allow Rihanna … and Madonna and any girl that ends in an 'a' to do what they [do] because she's doing nothing different than all of the rest of them."
KISS' wild antics are chronicled in a new book called "Nothin' to Lose: The Making of KISS (1972-1975)" by Ken Sharp, with Simmons and Stanley.
Simmons, renowned as an astute businessman — he once sold KISS coffins — is now fronting a new arena football team called the L.A. KISS, and has made free agent quarterback Tim Tebow, who's played with the New York Jets, New England Patriots, and Denver Broncos, an offer to join.
"We are proud to make Tim Tebow an offer. He is considering," the Israeli-born rocker told Steve Malzberg.
"We would be proud to have Tebow on the team, prefer to have somebody who has strong sense of country and self than somebody who tortures dogs and is an alleged murderer. Those guys aren't good for football. Tebow is good for football. He works hard."
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