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MORE WINDOW DRESSING

-Campaigns pregnant with cash seek more fame, but does it bring more voters?-

Celebrity endorsements are nothing but window-dressing on political campaigns and you'd be hard-pressed to find an instance where it made the difference between being elected and not elected. Wise is the politician who accepts the celebrity endorsement but doesn't make too much of it. Voters don't like to be told who to vote for, even from celebrities whose work they admire, because then they feel like they are being played. It may provide a PR edge, but never enough for the smart (sic) person who draws that curtain and pulls the lever.

Does anyone really believe that Sinatra is the reason JFK was elected over Nixon in the skin-of-our-teeth 1960 election? It might have more to do with the fact that the Catholic JFK was a master politician, ahead of his time when it came to matters of the media and the Protestant coal miners of West Virginia. And what about the esteemed, everyman actor that every woman loves, Robert Redford, campaigning for Michael Dukakis in '88? Made quite an impact, didn't it?

So, now the queen of all media, Oprah, is stumping for Obama in the 2008 election. So what? It won't make a smidgen of difference. Obama may or may not get the nomination but it won't have anything to do with Oprah, you can be sure. It will get some good media play but that's about it. It's the same reason why everyone's favorite kick-ass guy, Chuck Norris, will get Mike Huckabee some good media play due to his endorsment. It will only last so long because most everyone who watches and hears the media, be it online, TV, radio, whatever, doesn't vote. Only those who hate to feel like they are being played vote. Those who vote may not agree with you on the issues, and you may think they are idiots because of that, but that doesn't affect the fact that they vote.

If I were a campaign manager today I would advise my client to accept any celebrity endorsement so long as it elevated the established platform, and not because that person was a celebrity looking to fill some public service time with a wave and a smile in the spotlight.

On the down side: Look at what it did for Al Gore. He had all those celebrities endorsing him in the 2000 presidential race. After dropping out of politics he's now his own celebrity. He can now endorse himself, should he decide to get back in the fray.

It's not gonna happen, but it sure is fun the think about.

Learn more about this author, Blake Guthrie.
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