Obama shift on gay marriage unleashes Hollywood's star power
| Studio City, Calif.
President聽Obama made history when he became the first sitting聽US president to announce support for gay marriage on Wednesday.
His campaign hopes to make history聽again on Thursday when聽the candidate for reelection heads to Hollywood for what could be the single most lucrative presidential campaign fundraiser yet.聽Unofficial estimates of the evening鈥檚 haul are running at $15 million.
The neatly-timed announcement on gay marriage, political pundits and gay rights activists say, has given the Obama candidacy fresh steam in the entertainment world as he heads聽toward a face-off with presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
鈥淗ollywood has many faces,鈥� says Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political scientist at the University of Southern California. 鈥淪o you cannot necessarily make a blanket statement.鈥澛燦onetheless, she says, there were many in various segments of Hollywood 鈥� from the business executives to the middle-class union workers 鈥� who felt that Obama had not made good on campaign promises. 鈥淭his announcement聽gives fresh energy to Obama鈥檚 appeal across聽many sectors inside Hollywood,鈥� she says.
The payoff has begun immediately, with iconic TV producer Norman Lear announcing that after聽withholding support for Obama鈥檚 reelection, he and his wife聽will pony up $40,000 each for the night鈥檚 festivities.
Openly gay Latino聽superstar Ricky Martin announced Wednesday that he will host a fundraiser聽on May 14 in New York, saying in a statement quoted on the Broadway world site,聽"I believe has shown a deep conviction to help those most in need, even if their voices are not always the ones heard the loudest in Washington.鈥�
He went on to say聽that Obama 鈥渉as also been an exceptionally strong advocate for the Latino and LGBT communities, leading us to precedent-setting milestones such as the appointment of the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. 鈥� I believe the president has put the United States back on the right path and has earned the opportunity to finish the critical work that he has started."
While it is easy to scoff at celebrities-as-politicos, it鈥檚 important not to underestimate their reach, says Rich Ferraro, a spokesman for the gay rights advocacy group, GLAAD.聽鈥淭hey are influencers of the larger culture,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd when popular entertainers support an issue or a candidate, their聽聽 exposure matters.鈥�
He points to the explosion of celebrity tweets all over Twitter in support聽of Obama鈥檚 newly stated stance on gay marriage.聽People from Russell Simmons to Alec Baldwin聽are speaking their minds, says Mr. Ferraro. 鈥淭his also means that when someone like Russell Simmons speaks out, his comments get picked up not just on the mainstream media, but in black media and聽entertainment media as well.鈥�
The Thursday night fundraiser聽is slated for the Fryman Canyon home of actor George Clooney in Studio City, where A-list聽actors and聽executives such as Robert Downey Jr. and Jeffrey Katzenberg聽will mingle with聽the other 150 or so luminaries who forked over the $40,000 price聽of entry.
Joining them will be two winners of an online raffle. This record-breaking strategy聽dangled two spots at the fundraiser for anyone willing to donate the suggested $3 or more in an online drawing.
This points to another important聽facet of the Obama campaign, the power of the small donor in contrast to the big celebrity, says Gordon Coonfield, professor of communication at Villanova University听颈苍 Philadelphia.
鈥淔rom what other media outlets have reported concerning Obama's fundraising, it isn't the rich and famous who do the bulk of the donating 鈥� it is ordinary, everyday Americans,鈥� he says. Indeed, if the $15 million聽聽 materializes from the event, it would mean that far more than half聽came聽from small donors.
Locals such as Lisa Swane,聽an unemployed nurse who lives in Fryman Canyon,聽anticipates a聽nightmare traffic block on Thursday, but says Obama made the right move.
鈥淚鈥檓 not thrilled about the traffic this is going to cause,鈥� she says, sitting in a Studio City Starbucks聽and reading an article about the possible record intake at the Clooney soir茅e, 鈥渂ut I think Obama is smart to tap Hollywood because he needs their deep pockets to offset Romney鈥檚 millions.鈥�
Starbucks barrista Andrew Manus聽age 20, who just moved from Las Vegas, doesn鈥檛 think Obama needs the money at all, but feels the president鈥檚 clarified stance in favor of gay marriage聽will 鈥渕ost definitely help Hollywood types to open their wallets. It was a very smart move.鈥�
Staff writer Daniel B. Wood contributed to this report.
