Jay-Z performs in the United Kingdom with Barack Obama on a giant screen
With less than 24 hours to go before polling locations open across America, we’re hoping that most of the nation’s undecided voters have finally chosen a candidate. But in case you haven’t, we’ve got one last sure-fire way to get you to come down off the fence: the celebrity endorsement.
From Girls creator Lena Dunham’s clever pro-Obama ad to singer Meat Loaf’s spirited public support for Romney, the country’s rich and famous have publicizing their political preferences right and left (pun intended) in the election’s closing stretch.
And in these precious final days of campaigning, President Obama seems to be looking for one last celebrity-backed boost. He’ll complete his campaign circuit Monday in the battleground state of Ohio, flanked by Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen. In the past week alone, the President has already had Stevie Wonder, Marc Anthony and Gabrielle Union flashing their star power on behalf of his reelection effort on the campaign trail.
Actor Edward Norton, meanwhile, has released a seven-minute documentary film to support the Obama campaign. But while videos like Norton’s — or public declarations like Meat Loaf’s — have made waves across the Internet, other celebrity endorsements have flown under the radar. So you might be surprised about some of the other A-listers (and B- or C-listers) who’ve also gotten involved this election cycle.
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Many celebrities have shown their support the good old-fashioned way: with money. In a few cases, quite a fat stack of it. And while it might seem that Obama is the Hollywood candidate in this race, plenty of celebs have thrown cash at his opponent. There’s Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (better known as A-Rod), who gave $250 to Romney 2012 and another $250 to the RNC. (He also gave a few thousand dollars to George W. Bush in 2004 and to Rudy Giuliani in 2007, according to Mother Jones.)
And then there’s actor John O’Hurley (best remembered as Elaine’s boss J. Peterman on Seinfeld), who donated $1,000 to Romney this year, along with wrestling mogul Vince McMahon, who gave $5,000. Jerry Bruckheimer, creator of the CSI franchise and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, donated $7,500. Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning gave $5,000, while figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi gave $2,500, according to OpenSecrets.org. And that’s not even counting Romney’s more vocal supporters, like Clint Eastwood, Chuck Norris, Ted Nugent and Gene Simmons, who have all publicly endorsed Romney as their candidate of choice (althought none of them have officially donated any money to his campaign.)
Then, of course, there are the celebrities on Team Obama. The list of stars who’ve contributed $5,000 or more to the President’s reelection campaign includes Will Smith, Aaron Sorkin, Gwen Stefani, Ben Stiller, Barba Streisand, Quentin Tarantino, Anna Wintour, Ellen DeGeneres, Eva Longoria, Steven Spielberg and dozens of others. Some of these celebrity donors — like George Clooney and Tom Hanks — have made their political stances and involvements very public; others have flown quietly under the political radar. So while Obama may have plenty of star wattage behind him, can you really put a price on Clint Eastwood?
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