Stars are aligned with candidates

ENDORSEMENTS | Big names can mean big bucks and big mo for White House hopefuls

April 23, 2008

BY PAIGE WISER pwiser@suntimes.com

Last week, Bruce Springsteen endorsed Barack Obama for president. In a letter on his Web site, Springsteen wrote, "He has the depth, the reflectiveness and the resilience to be our next president. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years."

Powerful words from a respected artist -- but will they make an impact on the election? Skeptics will remember that Springsteen endorsed John Kerry, too, and even lent him "No Surrender" as his theme song.

(Kerry wasn't a hit.)

For better or for worse, Obama is mesmerizing Hollywood like no candidate since JFK. Some of his celebrity fans -- Scarlett Johansson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kate Walsh -- teamed with will.i.am to create the video tribute "Yes We Can."

He even scored the active approval of Oprah Winfrey, whose golden touch is legendary. But a surprising study conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that 69 percent of Americans said they would be unswayed by Winfrey's opinion. Among the 30 percent who would be influenced, 15 percent said they'd be more likely to vote for her candidate -- which was canceled out by the other 15 percent, who said they'd be less likely to.

So celebrities don't seem to be a political slam-dunk.

Still, "the benefits of a celebrity endorsement outweigh any downside," says Philip Molfese, president and co-founder of Grainger Terry Inc., a Chicago political consulting and public relations firm. "As long as you pick the right celebrity -- someone who won't embarrass you."

Big names can help raise big bucks for a campaign, he says. Molfese recently assembled members of the '85 Bears for a fund-raiser for a judicial candidate.

Celebrities can give a candidate broader exposure, he says. And they're not necessarily uninformed. "If they're not shooting a movie, how else are they spending their time?" Molfese points out. "They could be reading the U.N. report on refugees."

Probably not in the case of Heidi Montag, a star of MTV's "The Hills," who is most famous for cat fights and plastic surgery. She revealed to Us Weekly that she's backing John McCain. "I'm a Republican, and McCain has a lot of experience," she said.

McCain responded in Time: "I'm honored to have Heidi's support and I want to assure her that I never miss an episode of 'The Hills,' especially since the new season started."

Hillary Clinton has attracted an enviably diverse following, including everyone from America Ferrera to 50 Cent to Barbra Streisand to Hugh Hefner. The charismatic Bill Clinton attests, "I'd be out here supporting her even if she wasn't my wife."

The one celebrity name you won't see in this campaign? Pat Sajak. Last year he wrote a political commentary saying that famous folks should keep their views to themselves.

"If any group of citizens is uniquely unqualified to tell someone else how to vote, it's those of us who live in the sheltered, privileged arena of celebrity-hood," he wrote. "The idea of choosing the Leader of the Free World based on the advice of someone who lives in the cloistered world of stardom seems a bit loony to me."

Celeb endorsements

JOHN MCCAIN"I like McCain. A lot." | Sylvester Stallone
Wilford Brimley
Jerry Bruckheimer
Robert Duvall
Joe Eszterhas
Heidi Montag
Curt Schilling
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Tom Selleck
Ben Stein
Rip Torn
Dick Van Patten

HILLARY CLINTON"I know her as a woman and she makes me very proud." | Maya Angelou
50 Cent
Candice Bergen
Christie Brinkley
Chevy Chase
Ted Danson
Fran Drescher
America Ferrera
Sally Field
John Grisham
Hugh Hefner
Don Henley
Perez Hilton
Ron Howard
Jenna Jameson
Magic Johnson
Quincy Jones
Billie Jean King
Christine Lahti
Madonna
Marla Maples
Rosie O'Donnell
Rob Reiner
Steven Spielberg
Jerry Springer
Mary Steenburgen
Martha Stewart
Barbra Streisand
Amber Tamblyn
Bradley Whitford

BARACK OBAMA"I'm supporting Obama, and I thought George [Clooney] said it really well when he spoke to the senator. He said, 'I'll support you in any way I can, including staying at home and shutting my mouth.' " | Matt Damon
Ben Affleck
Jennifer Aniston
Halle Berry
Jessica Biel
Zach Braff
Jackson Browne
Ken Burns
George Clooney
Larry David
Robert De Niro
Taye Diggs
Tate Donovan
Michael Douglas
Morgan Freeman
David Geffen
Tom Hanks
Dennis Haysbert
Hulk Hogan
Kelly Hu
Scarlett Johansson
Garrison Keillor
Caroline Kennedy
Tobey Maguire
Branford Marsalis
Steve Martin
Lorne Michaels
Toni Morrison
Eddie Murphy
Edward Norton
Kal Penn
Ryan Reynolds
Chris Rock
Tracee Ellis Ross
Brendan Routh
Maria Shriver
Elisabeth Shue
Paul Simon
Will Smith
Jurnee Smollett
Ben Stiller
Usher
Kate Walsh
Kerry Washington
Gene Wilder
Oprah Winfrey
Alfre Woodard