BY LAUREN MENDOZA

In print | February 28, 2008

On a recent Saturday Night Live segment, Tina Fey addressed several of the popular criticisms that have been made about presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton. Fey suggested that one reason Hillary’s lead has recently dwindled is because women feel that feminism has progressed to the point where they needn’t feel obligated to vote for a woman, and can rather vote for whomever Oprah Winfrey tells them to.

I admit that I hate when people tell me to support Clinton because I’m a woman, and that not voting for the first serious female presidential candidate would be an egregious act against feminism. I also admit in advance that it’s a little hypocritical to write an article against following the political advice of celebrities in response to something a celebrity said.

But I feel that ultimately there was some truth in what Fey said, and that we need to recognize how outrageous it is when celebrities encourage their fans to vote for a candidate, and they listen. Shouldn’t we primarily be concerned about who is best qualified to run our country and hesitant to agree with propaganda with no questions asked? Surely we have learned something in the past eight years.

Ever since Oprah first vocalized her support for Senator Barack Obama, numerous other celebrities have entered the campaign arena to support their preferred presidential candidate with financial endorsements and opportunities for additional publicity.

While it is hard to determine whether the opinions of public figures have significantly influenced voters to give further consideration to certain politicians, it’s clear that Hollywood, government officials and even professional athletes are getting involved.

Mike Huckabee has the support of Chuck Norris, Ron Paul has John Mayer and McCain has Arnold Schwarzenegger. And with the extremely close race for the democratic nomination between Clinton and Obama, a growing number of celebrity and political endorsements continue to arise. While some endorsements can be helpful to a campaign by putting a candidate in the spotlight, others might be damaging if the public allows itself to be dissuaded by certain endorsers.

Obama’s list of endorsers has continued to grow, and now includes writer Toni Morrison, Young Frankenstein and original Willy Wonka actor Gene Wilder, and even the Democratic Party Presidential nominee for the 2004 elections Senator John Kerry. Recently, however, the high-status publicity Obama has received has been criticized for taking focus away from the issues relevant to his campaign.

While some prominent political figures such as Madeleine K. Albright, the first female to be selected as United States Secretary of State, have endorsed Clinton, so have many other less reputable celebrities. According to Newsweek, Jenna Jameson, who has won more than 20 adult film awards and is the author of the New York Times Best Seller “How to Make Love Like a Porn Star” endorsed Clinton in May 2007. According to Jameson, the adult film industry prospered during Clinton administration, and she is pleased to support Hillary.

While financially the Clinton campaign benefited from the endorsement, there has also been hostile criticism from some of Clinton’s more conservative supporters. Similarly to the well-known Oprah endorsement, high-status supporters can have negative effects, with critics questioning the candidate’s relation to the endorsers. How deep does the public’s shallowness run? Both democratic candidates are intelligent and articulate leaders. Why do some of us opt to focus primarily on what the celebrities have to say on their behalf?

As citizens, celebrities have the right to freely voice their opinions, but it is the voter’s responsibility to not be distracted by the Hollywood glitz and glam on something as important as electing the person who will run our country for the next four years.

Oprah isn’t going to pay your bills, fix the illiteracy problem, or get our country out of the war, so why let her influence your decision? Celebrities will continue to try to persuade or discourage their fans to vote for certain candidates, and occasionally they may make substantial points. But ultimately it is the choice of the individual that will be counted, so don’t believe the hype.

Lauren is a sophomore. You can reach her at lmendoz1@swarthmore.edu.

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