My Hero`s Hero

Shashank Chouhan

Who wouldn’t want Oprah Winfrey to support their campaign? Even those hoping for the world’s most powerful post do! The US Elections are characterised by celebrities endorsing candidates and campaigning to get them more votes.For Hollywood stars to link with political causes and candidates is nothing new, of course. But that trend certainly seems to have hit a saturation level in 2008, with Winfrey's powerful endorsement of Obama as the tipping point. The question -- for the political parties marketing their name-brand candidates as well as brands and nonpartisan groups aiming to take advantage of the spotlight -- remains: Is a celebrity's involvement good, bad or inconsequential?
But before going into that, lets take a look at the celeb endorsements that US Presidential candidates got this year.

Barack Obama’s : Obama seems to have got the lion’s share of powerful A-listers from everywhere- movies, music, politics, sports. His appeal to the youngsters seems to have stretched to Hollywood as well. Not just Oprah Winfrey- which is arguably the biggest endorsement considering her millions of fans-, Obama secured support from the likes of Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Halle Berry, the lovely Jessica Alba, John Leguizamo, George Lopez, Kerry Washington, Usher, Chris Rock, Brendan Routh, Kate Walsh, Kal Penn and Tate Donovan, Forest Whitaker, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Sharon Stone, Usher, Goo-Goo Dolls, Kal Penn…

P Diddy chose to go public with his endorsement at the 2008 BET Awards show. If we all register and vote, we will have the first black president in the history of America,” Sean ”Diddy” Combs told the crowd before chanting ”Obama or Die” — a remix of his politically neutral ”Vote or Die” motto from the 2004 presidential election, when he attempted to boost the youth vote, that worked too if a study is to be believed.

Stars including, Hu, Walsh, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta and Nick Cannon also got together and created a pro-Obama video with The Black Eyed Peas, "Yes We Can," which is currently the top YouTube download.

Political heavyweights like Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Caroline Kennedy came out in support of Obama, cutting across party lines and race. Among these serious espousals was Borat (actor Sacha Baron Cohen) as well and here is what he had to say:

"I cannot believe that it possible a woman can become Premier of US and A - in Kazakhstan, we say that to give a woman power, is like to give a monkey a gun - very dangerous. We do not give monkeys guns any more in Kazakhstan ever since the Astana Zoo massacre of 2003 when Torkin the orang-utan shoot 17 schoolchildrens. I personal would like the basketball player, Barak Obamas, to be Premier."
Hillary Clinton: The Clintons are supposed to be the favourites of Madonna and many of the above mentioned stars who closed ranks behind Obama after Hillary lent her support to the latter.
If Obama got Oprah, Hillary had Barbra Streisand, which is not saying much but well…

Apart from her, Hillary’s star-studded list of supporters goes like this: Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Ron Howard, America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Fran Drescher, John Grisham and Magic Johnson ,OJ Simpson have all campaigned on her behalf, helping out with phone banks and making the occasional personal appearance.

At a Clinton rally, such boldface names as Sally Field, Bradley Whitford and Christine Lahti were in attendance. Quincy Jones, Billie Jean King, Steven Speilberg, Jack Nicholson have also publicly given support to her.

Hillary probably had her biggest starry night when her old pal Elton John performed for her at a sold out night. He announced, “Hillary should be the next President of America.” Ofcourse he said the same thing to the 2002 Democrat hopeful Al Gore and lets not even get into how he missed the top post by a whisker.

John McCain: While Obama got the support of the young brigade, McCain’s age issue was put in focus when a Hollywood biggie supported him. Sylvester Stallone. 62 year old, Stallone supported 71 year old McCain. And the grey hair club got expanded.

To offset that, McCain got the likes of hip-hop star Daddy Yankee and comedian Jay Leno. Leno mad jokes on him and Daddy Yankee got more attention and invite questions on the star’s sexual innuendos. So much for being with-it.

Heidi Montag and Arnold Schwarzenegger were other A-listers who publicly supported McCain.

And oh, Chuck Norris shook hands with Mike Huckabee. Sarah Palin…she just endorsed McCain.

Does it work?

A study by Washington State University showed that, in a poll of around 300 young adults, that celebrity endorsement is only there as an incentive for younger people to vote, and that their influence wasn't likely to sway the people's votes in their favour. In fact the study states the opposite, stating that "Celebrity endorsed campaigns successfully lowered complacency, and helped young people believe in their own impact on the political system."

According to a 2004 Pace University Poll, 44 percent of newly registered voters were between the ages of 18-25, and 43 percent of these voters said they expected to stay involved in the political process. Since the young voter percentage has only grown this year, one may conclude that celebrity endorsements might do the trick for the candidates.

Oprah’s Obama endorsement proved mutually beneficial as the rally saw a record number of attendees and Oprah’s book-club increased over-night. Obama himself admitted that the star standing next to him might be reason behind the response he got.
A cause or a campaign with a big-time star on its side can most assuredly raise money, draw crowds and generate buzz, but there can be a downside. "If you use celebrities in your campaign, you'll be tarred as an elitist," said Howard Bragman, CEO of the public relations firm Fifteen Minutes and author of the forthcoming "Where's My Fifteen Minutes?"
Darrell West, political science professor at Brown University and author of "Celebrity Politics," thinks that at the end of the day, celebrities have little real influence. "There's not a lot of evidence, historically, to show that celebrity endorsement has an impact on how people vote," he said. "Most people in middle America and elsewhere look to celebrities for entertainment, not for advice on presidential politics."
We surely hope no one will be persuaded or dissuaded by Paris Hilton mocking both candidates in her leopard prints.

Ofcourse celebrity endorsements is nothing new. It goes back to 1920, when actor Al Jolson organized Broadway stars in support of Republican candidate Warren Harding, who became the 29th President in a landslide victory. Frank Sinatra supported JFK in 1960s and both became huge stars.

Charlton Heston actively campaigned for Richard Nixon in 1972 as a member of the group Democrats for Nixon. He continued to endorse Republican candidates with Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

Endorsements can make or break a candidate’s image for sure. Obama’s celeb army had a Republican advertisement questioning if he was ready to lead the country since he was not in the company of serious people. Obama’s supporters on the other hand created problem when Rapper Ludacris released a freestyle track, “Politics as Usual,” which shouts out Obama, but also dubs Hillary Clinton “irrelevant” and George W. Bush “mentally handicapped” in addition to taking swings at McCain.

Its time to tear down the floss and take a hard look at the candidates. It goes without saying that stars have a price on their heads, and if the voters don’t listen to their own heads, then their choice can be a problem for the world. The company of men doesn’t matter as long as a person is true to their own ideas and agendas.