Hollywood’s Last-Minute Push for Obama

Right on the heels of President Obama’s very revealing statement encouraging his supporters to vote out of a sense of revenge, comes a spate of last-minute pushes by his loyal (but gradually dwindling) supporters in Hollywood, attempting to help him get those voters to the polls.

In a video posted Saturday on the Obama campaign camp’s YouTube Channel, comedian Will Ferrell addresses the camera with “I will do anything to get you to go out and vote November sixth. I’m not kidding.” In a smoking jacket adorned with an Obama 2012 pin, he promises to do a little dance, eat anything we tell him to, even punch himself in the face, if we go to the polls and vote Obama. Ferrell helped raise funds for Hollywood’s President in 2008, and co-hosted a $38,000 a person fundraiser for him in February.

An anti-Romney political spot, paid for by the pro-Obama Jewish Council for Education and Research, was released by former singer Cher and buzzsaw-voiced comedienne Kathy Griffin. The idiotically-titled “Don't Let Mitt Turn Back Time on Women's Rights” features footage of Romney stumping for Richard Mourdock, the U.S. Senate candidate who came under fire for saying that “even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” The video also attempts to link Romney to Senate candidate Todd Akin, who said in August that women’s bodies could prevent pregnancy in instances of “legitimate rape.”

What the Cher-Griffin ad doesn’t mention is that the Romney camp stated that “he disagrees with Richard Mourdock's comments, and they do not reflect his views." Romney also denounced Akin’s comments as “inexcusable,” “insulting,” and “wrong.”

“There’s a lot at stake for women and people who like and respect women,” Cher says to the camera, clinging desperately to the left’s talking point that the sole issue in this election is “women’s rights.” She calls Republican candidates’ attitudes toward women “sick stuff,” and she and Griffin joke about Romney running mate Paul Ryan being “the guy who looks like Dracula.” The only funny thing about this ad’s jocular tone is the sight of someone who looks like an Addams Family cast member ridiculing the cleancut Ryan as a Dracula-lookalike, but Cher isn’t known for her wit or political acumen, not even by her fans. She was recently found to be the fifth least credible political celebrity by a poll released this week by entertainment industry website The Hollywood Reporter (THR).

That Oct. 29 survey of likely voters showed that politically opinionated celebrities definitely have the power to affect elections. But some of the most influential celebrities actually steer voters toward the opposite of what they recommend, which accounts for why Donald Trump comes in second place in this THR list of celebrities who make the highest percentage of voters more likely to support Democrats, and why Oprah Winfrey appears on the list for Republican supporters:

Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres (12%)
Donald Trump (11%)
George Clooney (9%)
Tina Fey (8%)
Eva Longoria and Clint Eastwood (7%)
Katy Perry and Bruce Springsteen (6%)
Meat Loaf and Cher (4%)
Lena Dunham (3%)

If you’re unfamiliar with Lena Dunham, she is the doughy face of the recent “My First Time” video comparing voting for Obama to losing one’s virginity.

The top five most politically credible celebs for Obama voters are, in order:

Oprah Winfrey
George Clooney
Ellen DeGeneres
Tina Fey
Barbra Streisand

The least-credible political celebs for Obama voters are:

Donald Trump
Kid Rock
Meat Loaf
Clint Eastwood
Katy Perry

For Romney voters, the top five most-trusted are:

Clint Eastwood
Donald Trump
Oprah Winfrey
George Clooney
Ellen DeGeneres

Least credible celebs for Romney voters:

Ellen DeGeneres
Katy Perry
Cher
Eva Longoria
Tina Fey

Who cares about the endorsements of modern-day court jesters, you may well ask? Younger voters do, and that’s why the Obama campaign is targeting them again, as they did successfully in the previous election. Pop singer Katy Perry’s appearance, for example, on the list of least credible stars for Obama voters is misleading, because another THR poll shows that likely voters under 35 find her eight times more credible as a political spokesperson than older voters do. The enormously popular Perry, wearing a skin-tight dress designed like a voting ballot with the box for Obama checked off, performed last week at a rally for Obama in Las Vegas and at another one in Milwaukee over the weekend.

Lesser celebrity music stars assisting in their Messiah’s last-minute campaigning include aging rocker John Mellencamp, aging indie rocker Dave Matthews, and soon-to-be aging “recording artist” will.i.am (yes, that’s how he spells it, to let you know he’s an artist).

In a satirical spot on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live Friday, comedian Chris Rock aimed to provide proof that Obama is whiter than Romney, in hopes of helping Obama close Romney’s substantial lead with white voters. According to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, Obama trails Romney with white voters by more than 23 points while leading non-white voters with 79 percent.

As evidence of the president’s whiteness, Rock served up photos and footage of Obama playing golf, wearing “mom jeans” at a baseball game, and dancing on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Rock notes that Obama formerly went by Barry, “the third whitest name on Earth.” And after college, the president went into black Chicago neighborhoods to organize people. “How white is that? Black people don’t go into black communities,” Rock says. “We don’t have to. We’re already there.”

Finally, Rock demonstrates that Romney is actually blacker than Obama by showing a picture of the president’s four-member immediate family, and contrasting it with a panoramic view of Romney’s extended clan. “Kids. Cousins. Aunts. Uncles. Mitt Romney’s family has more people in it than a Tyler Perry movie,” Rock says, referring to the highly successful creator of films aimed at black audiences.

Chris Rock’s video may have the unintentional effect of aiding Romney, because it’s actually Obama who is being gently mocked. In fact, this time around, Hollywood cheerleading in general may unintentionally aid Romney, because Americans are becoming increasingly fed up with out-of-touch celebrities who won’t just shut up and sing.

(This article originally appeared here on FrontPage Mag 11/5/12)