Celebrities are putting their best foot forward for their favorite candidates in the 2008 Presidential Campaign.
by Jesse Altum
The always truthful and honest candidates for President of the United State have come under scrutiny for various issues in the past, from questionable campaign contributions to past votes for issues in Congress that don’t even matter anymore.
The big concern now for 2008 has become whether to brand the candidates’ campaigns with celebrity images (such as the all-knowing Oprah), or to empower the pact of a party and offer your name with that of other great politicians and celebrities who grace its presence when campaign funds are needed.
These idealistic patrons of politics, these celebrities and co-party members, come from separate parts of the country and have diverse and profound affects on the public image of the candidates they support. Dividing their lives and businesses between Hollywood and Washington D.C. for the better good of the country, these career-minded professionals come together once in a blue moon to help and support one another’s lifeblood, standing tall in the business empire they have conquered. Celebrities and politicians such as Obama and Oprah Winfrey, along with McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger, have been sticking their names together to influence presidential campaigns for years now, hoping that their fame will cause their adoring fans to vote for their supported candidate.
The presidential candidates, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama, are all using the power of financial, public, and party support to fuel the momentum of their campaigns towards the white house from the senate seats they all sit in now. Those efforts though can seem unimaginable without the branding of their name by celebrities who have already built a strong public image for themselves. The campaign for Presidency in 2008 has drastically relied on support from celebrities, not only as an influence to the public voters but also as a divider for the increasing similarity of many issues among the candidates. The main issues in the United States have funneled down to actions on the war and terrorism, public values issues, and debates between science and religion, limiting the different opinions of the candidates, and empowering the celebrity endorsement.
One candidate who has received the support from arguably America’s strongest public image is Obama, who teamed up with Winfrey in late 2007, adding her name to the support of the Kennedy family, Halle Barry, Larry David (creator of Seinfeld), Scarlett Johansson, and Zach Braff. Obama has seen much support among Hollywood and Los Angeles, although their support did not seemed to reach the outer most parts of California and surrounding states, since many of the western states (including California) had their electoral votes captured by Clinton in the primary elections.
Clinton also has repeatedly won over the support of many strong names, mainly with co-workers in the U.S. Congress and Senate, many state Governors, the Denver Post, Barbra Streisand, Kimora Lee Simmons, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and ex Vice President, Walter Mondale. This support is less effective to her image among the public and younger voting Americans, but is a strong political circle of power, making her seem more desirable and unbeatable compared to Obama’s political circle of high powered celebrity friends.
Campaigns and elections become centered around public image and media marketing via television and through persuasion, because the more people the candidate can get to understand and agree with their campaign, the more votes they can ultimately gain over their opponent. As the public target we see that some promoters are larger than others and have a stronger influence on the public, such as Winfrey in support of Obama. Given the views of Clinton’s supporters, she has felt the need to gain more respect and acceptance from her peers in government and in the Democratic party to win the party’s nominating vote and persuade super delegates that could be swayed to her side in the event of a tie between her and Obama. Clinton has support from many large celebrities like Kimora Lee Simmons but has chosen not to use the power of the supporter but rather the power of her own words and persuasion. Clinton is using her own fame to sell her 2008 campaign, trailing to meet community groups, American families, and spread the word of Clinton.
Obama has separated himself from Clinton, campaigning to the people directly, entrusting that their decision is the most powerful with the strongest deciding factor in the case of a tie. He has shown this mentality through fierce public campaigning on the trail, trying to meet groups of citizens and carry along his trusty collection of celebrity minions. Clinton has kept her campaigning similar while she was on the trail to primaries and caucuses this year, but has been self sufficient enough to not depend on the loyal words and caresses of a celebrity, excluding her husband Bill Clinton, who in his own right is a celebrity with many Americans.
The true goal of a campaign is all in the mind of the beholder. We have to look beyond the convincing words and the celebrity friends to see the candidates’ true ambitions for the White House, as well as their faithful political history preached about in the campaign, for that is the only thing the voters of America can really trust.
