Celebrities bring excitement but don’t influence voters
“Harold and Kumar” star Kal Penn talks with Joe Crowley Student Union employees about early voting on Oct. 18. Penn is one of the many celebrities that has been endorsing this year’s candidates.
For about 30 years, celebrity opinion has taken off, especially when voiced in the political arena.
The opinion becomes highly visible and occasionally divisive, but rarely makes-or-breaks an election, Stacy Gordon, a University of Nevada, Reno political science professor, said.
She said they help to get people excited for an event but do little else.
Actor Kal Penn (from “Harold and Kumar” and “House M.D.”) encouraged early voting in front of the Joe Crowley Student Union Oct. 18, the first day of early voting. He wore a fleece pullover with an emblem advocating Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.
Though asked many questions, Penn stuck to the issue of early voting.
Other celebrity appearances on the campaign trail include singers and actresses.
At a rally for Republican Vice Presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin, country music star Lee Greenwood sang “Proud to be an American.” “Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera campaigned for Sen. Hillary Clinton during the Nevada primary season.
Gordon said in rare instances a celebrity could change the way a person votes if they are having a hard time choosing between the candidates.
“It’s amazing what some people will vote on,” Gordon said.
Rick Gorka, regional spokesman for the McCain/Palin campaign, said campaigns prefer to bring in other politicians to support a candidate. He said on a large-scale celebrities don’t do much.
“It’s to draw attention and draw bodies to an event,” Gorka said. “It is good to get people into seats, but I doubt that any celebrity endorsement has changed an election.”
Dave Carlson, a 19-year-old mechanical engineering major, and his friends seemed to be having fun yelling “Kumar” when they saw Penn across the street during the homecoming parade. However, he said they lost interest when they found out he was talking about political issues.
“Pretty much it was ‘hey, you should party with us’ then he started talking about early voting and I’m like ‘oh, all right, cool, good luck’,” Carlson said. “Most guys in the house were voting early, but at the time it wasn’t what we were thinking about.”
Gordon said there is more evidence that celebrity endorsements could be more of a liability than a benefit. Though such cases are uncommon, Gordon pointed to singer Barbara Streisand, who has become more of a high-profile liberal fundraiser than a celebrity. When a celebrity becomes more associated with the cause they are campaigning for than what they became famous for, it might become a problem, she said.
Penn said he didn’t think he was hurting Obama’s campaign even with one of his more-famous roles as a burger-hunting stoner. He said most people can tell the difference between on- and off-screen personas.
“They understand the fake, fun world of watching movies,” Penn said.
Gordon said candidates usually think it can’t hurt to have a celebrity endorsement, and if it can get a few more votes it is worth it.
No single endorsement will change an undecided voter’s mind, no matter if it is a respected politician or a Hollywood actor, said Jeff Giertz, spokesman for the Nevada Obama campaign. He said in the end what the politician says is the best way to sway the uncommitted, but a celebrity will help them receive that message.
“I think what it (celebrities) helps with is that it gets people involved who you might not normally be able to draw out and getting them involved in the campaign,” Giertz said.
Clint Demeritt can be reached at cdemeritt@nevadasagebrush.com.
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