Clinton Polled Streisand Endorsement

In the world of battling celebrity endorsements, both top Dem campaigns bagged a "biggee" last week. Obama got Oprah and Clinton got Streisand. According to this report even a celebrity endorsement has to be polled before it can be released.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Barbara Streisand’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton a day after word came that Oprah Winfrey would stump for Barack Obama made for delicious timing, and The New York Post, for one, couldn’t resist slapping together a battle-of-the-divas “tale of the tape,” stacking up Babs’s “71 million albums sold” against Oprah’s “9 million viewers.”

But was the polarizing Ms. Streisand, an icon of Hollywood’s liberal left, really a wise choice as a comeback to a cultural phenomenon so popular and powerful she can singlehandedly anoint bestsellers? And for a candidate as polarizing as Mrs. Clinton?

As the dust settled Wednesday, Ms. Streisand’s people were insisting that the timing was entirely accidental, and acknowledging privately that the comparison wasn’t exactly welcome. But they insisted that Ms. Streisand’s endorsement was a mightier weapon in a Democratic primary than one might guess after scrolling through some of the more vicious rantings about her that surface in comment sections of blogs like this one. ....

“We would’ve low-keyed it,” the associate said. “But the campaign says it’s a net plus. They polled it. Among Democratic primary voters, even in places like Iowa, they love Barbra. By the way, she just sold out concert tours around the world. And she’s great for fund-raising. In fact, a fund-raising letter signed by her went out this morning.”

I'm sure there are voters who mindlessly make their electoral choices based on celebrity endorsements, but one celebrity thinks it's pretty dumb to take your political advice from Hollywood types (from Special Report):

Speaking of political commentary — game show host Pat Sajak says he and other famous folks have no business telling people who to vote for.

Sajak writes — "If any group of citizens is uniquely unqualified to tell someone else how to vote, it's those of us who live in the sheltered, privileged arena of celebrity-hood ... The idea of choosing the Leader of the Free World based on the advice of someone who lives in the cloistered world of stardom seems a bit loony to me."

Sajak adds — "the idea that a gold record, a top-ten TV show or an Oscar translates into some sort of political wisdom doesn't make much sense to me. Trust me, one's view of the world isn't any clearer from the back seat of a limo."

I've always liked Sajak. He was hilarious as a weatherman in Los Angeles in the late 70's and early 80's.