Who Are Hollywood Conservatives Backing?
Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn were filming the movie Neighborhood Watch at my daughter-in-laws parents’ house a few weeks ago. As news would have it Vaughn leans to the Right of the political spectrum and Stiller to the Left. I knew that Vaughn was a libertarian and a supporter of Ron Paul.
We think of Hollywood types as only Leftists. Certainly there are more on the Left side of the political spectrum than on the Right side, but more conservatives are coming out of the closet. As they start seeing more conservatives actors and actresses speaking up and still getting acting gigs, I suspect we’ll see more.
Last month Bachmann picked of the enthusiastic support of entertainer Wayne Newton.
“I watched the entire [Las Vegas] debate, and I don’t have to tell you how proud I was of [Bachmann] because not only did she hold her own, but she kind of stood alone and I’m not talking about being female,” He told FOX News host Greta Van Susteren.
He summed, “I will support this beautiful lady as long as she wants to go.”
The Minnesota congresswoman also has the support of actor and conservative activist Ben Stein. Stein gave at least $1,000 to Bachmann’s campaign. The maximum individual donation is $2,500.
In addition to Vaughn, Barry Manilow and Chuck Norris are supporting Ron Paul. I was surprised as the Norris endorsement.
Former TV Superman actor Dean Cain likes Rick Perry’s record as Texas governor. “He’s got my full support,” he told FOX news.
I’m not sure if this next endorsement is going to be good or bad for Rick Perry. Gene Simmons, formally of the Rock group KISS “believes Perry will be the next president.”
Recently we heard that actor and director Clint Eastwood told the Los Angeles Times likes Herman Cain but has not made an endorsement. He says he “likes his story”: “He’s a guy who came from nowhere and did well, obviously against heavy odds. . . . He’s a doer and a straight-talker, which I don’t see enough of from either party.”
Simmons and Eastwood are businessmen. They know how economies work. Fortunately they have not been bitten by the Hollywood guilt bug that produces the following malady: “I make so much money that I want someone to punish me for it.”
It’s been known that actor Kelsey Grammer, of Cheers, Frasier, and recently of Boss, “told NBC Tonight Show host Jay Leno and CNN’s Piers Morgan that he felt that the tea party’s principles of fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets were ‘reasonable.’ He also criticized the Democratic Party’s support for the “Occupy” protests, “You gotta go there because you got nothing to stand on if you haven’t done the job you said were going to do.”
But like so many of these “conservatives,” economics plays the larger role in their picks. Only a few fiscal Hollywood types will take on the Gaystapo and the pro-abortion cabal.
It remains to be seen if any of these endorsement will make a difference. Verbal endorsements that lead to campaign contributions do help.