Chuck Norris will roundhouse kick you if you do not vote for John McCain, but Robert De Niro will give you a mean scowl if you don’t vote for Barack Obama. With that in mind, will that influence who you vote for?
In recent months, celebrities have taken over the political scene. They can be found all over the Internet, television and even college campuses, but this time they’re not promoting their latest film or album — they’re endorsing their favorite presidential candidate. Celebrity endorsement, however, is not a new trend. The Rat Pack famously endorsed JFK in the 1960s.
In a recent University of Maryland study, researchers found that Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of Barack Obama in 2007 played a significant role in the candidate’s success. The Pew Research Center reported that 23 percent of Democrats said that Winfrey’s first presidential endorsement would make them more likely to vote for Obama.
Recently Kristen Bell (“Heroes”) and Rashida Jones (“The Office”) hit a Missouri college to campaign for Obama. Another “Heroes” star, Hayden Panettiere, has taken the political message to FunnyorDie.com along with fellow blonde starlet Paris Hilton. Penn Badgley and Blake Lively can be seen in a MoveOn.org PSA urging young adults to talk to their parents about McCain.
In a poll from Entertainment Weekly’s Web site, 53 percent of Americans polled felt that celebrity endorsements influence the candidate’s appeal. However, 41 percent said their opinion of celebrities drops when that celebrity endorses a candidate they don’t like. However, some Binghamton University students believe that celebrity endorsement should not occur at all.
“People tend to put celebrities on a pedestal,” Tom Carr, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, said. “It makes people lose the ability to decide for themselves.”
Numerous videos have appeared on the Internet, including Sarah Silverman’s “The Great Schlep,” encouraging young Jews to get their grandparents in Florida to vote for Obama. However, other celebrities such as Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake and Snoop Dogg, among others, are choosing the bipartisan route by appearing in Steven Spielberg’s public service announcement to encourage people not to vote, unless of course, issues such as the environment, gun control and gay rights matter to them.
Some people believe that celebrity endorsement is a good thing that encourages people to vote.
“Many people value the opinion of celebrities,” Victoria Minerva, a sophomore environmental studies major, said. “So [endorsements] will probably influence people to vote that normally wouldn’t.”
During the 2004 election, Sean “Diddy” Combs began his famous “Vote or Die” campaign, a non-profit group which encouraged those of voting age to register. The result was record breaking, with 21 million voters under the age of 30 going to the polls.
Despite the positive outcome, the campaign sparked controversy when the National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint against Diddy, claiming that he violated election law. By law, nonprofit groups cannot campaign for specific candidates.