Opinion

9 Dec. 07

Celebrities campaign for candidates

Political campaign strategists are trying to capitalize on the nation’s obsession with celebrities by providing stars for their candidates.  Out front for Barack Obama is afternoon TV yak diva Oprah Winfrey. "The amount of time you spend in Washington means nothing unless you are accountable for the judgment you made," Winfrey said. “...from the beginning Obama stood with clarity and conviction against this war in Iraq."

"There are times that I even worry about what happens to our country," she said, "That is why for the very first time in my life I feel compelled to stand up and speak out for the man who I believe has a new vision for America." 

It’s clear that she finds this freshman senator the best man in the country to become president, his lack of any kind of experience notwithstanding. The fact that he was against the war from the beginning is a pretty thin qualification. So was Saddam Hussein. She probably likes him because he’s black as well.

The Obama strategy, as I see it, is to use Oprah to attract white women voters. He’s already counting on all the black votes. Oprah has a huge audience of mostly white women. If he can get those voters in addition to the blacks, he can beat Hillary for the nomination.

Right after Oprah declared her support for Obama, Barbra Streisand announced that she will be campaigning for Miz Clinton.

Streisand, the Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe winner and 2000 recipient of the National Medal of Arts, awarded by then-President Bill Clinton, is well-known for her fundraising efforts on behalf of both Clintons. In her endorsement, Streisand said Hillary Clinton can bring about change.

"Madame President of the United States ... it’s an extraordinary thought. We truly are in a momentous time, where a woman’s potential has no limitations," said Streisand in a statement distributed by Clinton's campaign. –Fox News

It’s no surprise that Streisand has joined with many other Hollywood types to support Clinton. This is the kind of endorsement goes down well with the radical left wing of the Democrat party. Clinton needs the leftist vote for the nomination. If she gets the nod, then she will swing to the middle again, once again claiming she’s been there all along.

In response to Oprah jumping in to help Obama, NAACP bigwig Andrew Young said that “Obama is too young and lacks the support network to ascend to the White House.”

In an online interview, Young also said that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has her husband behind her, and that "Bill is every bit as black as Barack."

"He's probably gone with more black women than Barack," Young said of Bill Clinton.

"I want Barack Obama to be president-- in 2016," Young declared.

"It's not a matter of being inexperienced. It's a matter of being young," Young said. "There's a certain level of maturity ... you've got to learn to take a certain amount of (s_ _t)."

That remark, I guess, was designed to help Hillary take the black vote away from Obama this time without writing him off for future elections.

Funny, I don’t recall Bill Clinton ever actually doing anything for black people while he was president. He did a lot of talking about his blackness, but I never saw any of that either.

Wouldn’t it be fun if each of the candidates had his own personal celebrity?  I think Rosy O’Donnell is still available.

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