Celebrities are coming out for their candidates

I don't think celebrity endorsements should matter, but if there are people out there who are really, honest-to-god swayed because they love Ashton Kutcher, well whatever. That's no reason for celebrities not to endorse candidates. They have the right to speak out like the rest of us. I mean, I think we've all subjected someone in our lives to our view of the world when they didn't care to hear it. Why should celebs be any different?

If Tina Fey was just mocking Sarah Palin's accent or her appearance, it would be unfair. But so much of what Tina Fey has put in the skits are direct quotes. So I don't feel bad for Palin, if for no other reason then I laugh almost as hard when I watch her in an interview. (Or I stare dumbfounded at the tv when she gives and answer completely unrelated to the question at the debates.) I don't think Palin is stupid, but she's pretty clearly uninformed on many topics and she doesn't cover well. And she winks! at the camera! That's comedy gold. It would be wrong of SNL not to pick that up, just like it would have been wrong not to harpoon Al Gore for the "lock box" references in 2000. You know, not wrong in an ethical sense, like killing puppies is wrong.  just wrong in a "good comedy" way, like watching Two and a Half Men is wrong.

I don't necessarily think comedy shows have any particular responsbility to be balanced, but SNL does make fun of Democratic candidates as much as Republicans. The Palin/Clinton sketch mocks Hillary's blind ambition, for instance. They are equal opportunity in their parodies--it's not their fault if the Republicans provide more and funnier fodder.

It's interesting that you think the turning point in the race between Obama and McCain is a sketch about Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton! I'm not saying you're wrong.

On this wikipedia page it says Ellen is for McCain!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_John_McCain_presidential_campaign_e...

Tell me it's not true! haha

Go here for my view on all things lesbian: http://allthingslesbeau.blogspot.com

Why, Angie Harmon? Why, Angie? Why must you be so incredibly hot, with your smouldering, dark and brooding, swoon-inducing, sexiness ... but yet be so moronicly, mind-numblingly STUPID?!!

You're killing the sexy Angie, you're killing it.

*************************** 

http://kiwi-grrl.livejournal.com/

If a celebrity wants to endorse a candidate, why stop them?  There are plently of supporters who go out trying to change other people's minds, plently of volunteers who go out canvassing to convince you to vote for their candidate; celebrities are doing something similar by endorsing (and in some cases, their endorsement involves canvassing and the like).  If you're voting based on research and facts and things you discovered by putting in an actual effort, good job, but not everybody is for whatever reason.  If those people want to vote for someone because Angelina Jolie said it was a good idea, we can't really stop them, can we?  Plus, in some cases, it's not just some famous person saying "vote for my ticket!" but rather "vote for my ticket, and here are some valid reasons why."  Influence can help inform (it can also help misinform, but that's a "use your power for good, not evil" discussion).

As far as Tina Fey goes, I don't think she or SNL are being particularly harsh to Palin.  When I saw her spoof of the Katie Couric interview (before I had seen the real one, mind you), I laughed, but I wondered if perhaps she wasn't pushing things a bit far, making her look really silly for laughs.  Then I saw the interview and realized that the parts I thought were over the top were actually direct quotes!  It would be one thing to comedically attack a candidate because of personal bias, but it's another entirely to use material that the person is giving you and satarizing it.  That's called comedy.

"No problem is insoluble, given a big enough plastic bag."

I think it's easy to pan celebrity endorsements because they seem so superficial, but there is an extent to which they actually are useful. Here are two examples: 

I'm not moved, for example, by who Ashton Kutcher endorses for president. Who might be moved by that, though? Iowans, particularly folks in Kutcher's hometown of Cedar Rapids...they take great pride in their hometown boy who made good and his opinion carries some weight there (and I say this as someone who saw Kutcher stumping in Iowa in 2004). 

Second, there are some celebrities who have used their fame to become activists for causes and voters respect them for their activism. Do people care who Angelina Jolie the actress endorses for president? Probably not. Do people, who know Jolie's record of campaigning for human rights, take her opinion of which candidates would champion that cause seriously? I think so...though, I feel obliged to point out that Jolie has not endorsed a candidate in the presidential race (she's said nice things about both candidates). 

Also, you have someone like Jennifer Beals who, through her celebrity, has developed a connection with the LGBT community. In the past, she's been an advocate for the LGBT community on a larger stage, but more recently, she's been reaching out to the LGBT community on behalf of the Obama campaign. I don't know that it changes anyone's vote, but maybe it opens the door...maybe people who weren't engaged before are now, at least, listening. It's up to the candidate to do the rest. 

-----
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." - MLK

even though i'm from singapore, i still keep track of the presidential race and i'm supporting barack obama as well. Sarah in Chicago, i had the same sentiments as you when i found out angie harmon's a republican.

3 words for the presidential race -- so much drama.

and if i could, i'd vote tina fey for vice president. lol.

Am I gay? I'm ecstatic!

To me celebrity endorsements matter to my view of the celebrity, not the candidate.

It's so weird that Sarah Michelle Gellar is a Republican.

We live in such interesting times. It's almost as if our celebrities have taken the place of the gods and goddesses of the ancient world. So depending on their popularity and status, I think they can have influence over some people. (Others could care less.) I guess I'm fine with that. But of course I would prefer that they be for my candidate. (I miss Hillary, too, but I think Obama will do just fine.)

www.SeekingSaraSummers.com

usually I would say that a more balanced approach at making fun at political figures and parties is the way to go. Sarah Palin however is an abnormality. The way she handles herself in the media just makes her the obvious target for any kind of jokes. She has been pretty much asking for it since she stepped onto center stage.

The SNL skit about the presidential debate also poked fun at some of the BS Biden talked about, but it got lost compared to all the appropriate sillyness surrounding the Palin character.

Just my opinion.

------------------------------------------------------
My Photography

Over at the Lindsay Lohan/Sam Ronson website there was a recent poll of who people were voting for. On the list was - voting Obama because of Lindsay/Sam. A small % said they had been influenced by them. I don't think that's a bad thing.

Sam Ronson, who is photographed incessently these days when she's DJing, has a poster of Obama prominently displayed on her Apple computer that she uses for work. That's free ads for Obama, and to a usually hard to reach demographic. I applaud her.

The SNL skits of Palin exposes her stupidity and manipulative style. All legitimate for satire. It's particularly satisfying to see her cynical ploy for women's votes for what it is: a heap of dung.

Like A Muse, I think Palin is a whole different kettle of fish. That she can be considered a valid candidate for VP is so off the the wall - when you actually think about it seriously - that any and all ways of demolishing that notion is legitimate, as long as it's not violent.

The republican agenda has by and large the corporate media to sell it's point of view. The likes of SNL, The Daily Show and Colbert Report goes a little way towards providing an intelligent alternative perspective.

My parents are a couple of those people who, anytime they see a celebrity on television talking about anything real, politics, poverty, war, etc., they comment something to the effect of, "What are they doing talking about this? What do they know, they're just an actor/singer/dancer/whatever, who even cares what they have to say?"

& that's just something that's always pissed me off, because they're not just actors/singers/dancers/whatever, they're people, human beings, citizens. Just because they do what they do doesn't mean they can't know about other things, have opinions about them, share their opinions.

I mean it'd be like if I were discussing politics with one of them, & when they give me they're opinion, me saying, "Oh you're just a guy that fixes phones, what do you know about politics? Why would I care what you think about it?"

These are people, just like you & I, & they have opinions, & every right to voice those opinions, just like everyone else & if you don't care what they think, that's fine, change the channel, turn the page, ignore it, but some of us are interested in what they have to say.

I especially think their opinions are valid, because these are people who've seen more of the world than I have, & though true, they are not in my same economic situation, some of them were once, & they do know what it's like. I like to know what causes they think are worthy, what they're willing to risk their fans over to stand up for, I like to know their political ideals.

Now, I'm not saying that their opinions of any of those things are going to sway my opinions, but I like to know that the people I admire in an artistic way can also be admired in an intellectual way.

I mean, when you're young you get excited about the fact that you & your favorite actor share the same favorite color, why not when you're older be able to be excited that you & your favorite actor share a political party?

Besides, you know if you could, you would get on television & tell the whole world your opinions on everything & nothing, just to get them out there, that's why there are so many blogs out there & so many people who comment on them, people like to discuss their opinions. These people just happen to be famous.

.krizten.

"Every song has a coda, a final movement. Whether it fades out, or crashes away. Every song ends. Is that any reason not to enjoy the music?" - OTH

Who cares who celebrities are voting for, I'm a fan of Cho and Wanda, but I didn't vote for the Barack-Biden ticket because of em'. Look at the issues people. To the people who are voting for McCain/Palin "because they feel bad" WTF! are you high? or something. This is not a popular contest in high school. And I don't think politics should be a "private" thing. Same way your not allowed to talk about sex and religion in a work place because its H.R inappropriate. Bitch its called freedom of speech, not freedom to speak on your own free time.  

-<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>_<_>

"The first duty of a man is to think for himself"

Jose Marti

Quite simply, if McCain and Biden were equally as ridiculous as Palin and McCain there'd be a more balanced approach taken to satirizing the candidates. However, all things aren't equal and the Republican team, especially Palin, is just so much more ripe for ridicule and so much more ridiculous, than the  Democrats. Shows like 'Saturday Night Live' have no obligation other than to entertain. When they stop doing that the viewing public (the only voters who should matter to them) will let  them know.