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November 2008
Michael Rechtshaffen
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| John McCain and Barack Obama |
It’s been quite a couple of months for political campaigning, Hollywood style, what with Barbra Streisand singing for Barack Obama’s fundraising supper; Martin Short, Tom Hanks, Jennifer Garner, Larry David and others hosting a stellar evening for Democratic powerbrokers; and Sarah Palin being honoured at the Emmy Awards.
Oh wait … that was Tina Fey.
We kid, but while celebrity Democrats have never been in short supply here, there are probably more people who were truly shocked when Clay Aiken officially announced he was gay than there are Hollywood Republicans out of the closet.
Things just haven’t been the same without Charlton Heston, guns blazing, being around to carry the conservative torch.
Sure, there are tough guys Arnold Schwarzenegger and Clint Eastwood, Kelsey Grammer, Chuck Norris, aging rocker Ted Nugent, Jon Voight and a handful of studio types.
But compare that lineup to the likes of Will Ferrell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Jodie Foster, Eddie Murphy, Renée Zellweger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Rock and Steven Spielberg, all of whom were among the 300 guests who plunked down $28,500 per plate for that Obama dinner.
Although celebs always like to be regarded as contributing to something other than their bank accounts, the big question remains, “Does their campaigning really sway the general public in, say, Arkansas or North Dakota?”
Not really, but if a few words of encouragement from Oprah or Jessica Simpson can simply get folks out to the polling booths, then their work here is done.
More important, their presence can do wonders at fundraisers.
With what has become the most expensive presidential campaign in U.S. history at a time when the economy has been taking a pounding, there’s still nothing like a little good-old-fashioned Hollywood pizzazz to razzle-dazzle ’em.
Just ask the Obama campaign, whose back-to-back fundraisers one night in September (including the one at which Streisand performed) racked up an estimated $11 million.
By Nov. 4, election day, Hollywood’s contribution to the Obama war chest over the past couple of months alone is expected to top $20 million.
So while it may not quite be as effective at consciousness-raising as it likes to think it is, when it comes to raising those coffers, Tinseltown’s still got it in the bag.
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