Clint Eastwood isn't endorsing Obama? How that doesn't detract from the ad.
| Los Angeles
The dustup over Clint Eastwood鈥檚聽Super Bowl 鈥渉alf-time in America鈥� Chrysler ad聽鈥� with the White House tweeting its聽surprise,聽Republicans crying foul, and the actor denying any intentional endorsement聽鈥� nonetheless raises the question: How much do celebrity endorsements matter these days?
After all, says Fordham University political science professor Christina Greer, 鈥淐lint Eastwood is very respected.鈥� Despite the fact that he has not been a supporter of President Obama, she says, "this is being interpreted as a Democratic commercial." As such, she adds, 鈥渢his could provide an聽interesting bump,鈥� for the president. 聽
Hollywood A-Listers have been corralled into the political arena for decades 鈥� Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart were high-profile Republicans, for instance 鈥� but the ability to transfer fan love聽to a candidate聽has never been direct听补苍诲 is hard to gauge. While certainly not defining, celebrity 鈥渄ust鈥� is an undeniable and occasionally potent part of the political calculus, especially as presidential elections have gotten closer and the Internet has made viral celebrity reach almost聽unimaginable compared with the pre-Internet age.
鈥淛ust look at Mitt Romney standing on that dais with Donald Trump,鈥� says聽Anthony Nownes, a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, adding that while he might not have considered Mr. Trump an important ally in the fight, 鈥淩omney thought so and certainly got a lot of attention for the move.鈥�
In an attempt to quantify the rub-off effect, Professor Nownes conducted a study of celebrity impact on the political views of some 300 voters in the run-up to the 2008 election.聽He used the then-wildly popular football player Peyton Manning as his test聽subject, revealing to his聽study participants that聽 the athlete was a Republican who supported GOP causes.
鈥淢ost of the people who were exposed to that information聽increased their view of the GOP,鈥� says Prof. Nownes. 鈥淣ot a lot, but that is significant,鈥� he adds, especially as we move into a time where聽elections are being decided by very few votes.
History shows that a top-shelf endorsement is no guarantee of an easy victory, says Republican strategist David Johnson, who worked on Sen. Robert Dole鈥檚 1988聽presidential campaign.聽He points out that聽movie A-Listers Gary Cooper听补苍诲 John Wayne聽supported losing politicians such as Thomas Dewey and Wendell Wilkie. 鈥淥f course, they jumped on the Ike bandwagon, but Eisenhower could have won without that,鈥� he says with a laugh, 鈥渁fter all he defeated the Nazis, how can you beat that?鈥�
He ticks off the list of big-name聽celebrities who fell on the losing side of the ticket over and over, from Bob Hope in 1964 with Barry Goldwater to聽1972鈥檚 GOP Nixon landslide. 鈥�George McGovern had Paul Newman and Robert聽Redford on his side and it didn鈥檛 help him one bit,鈥� he points out.
Increasingly, in a digital age where聽the public is placing more and聽more value on authenticity, the public鈥檚 perception of the endorser makes a difference.
鈥淒o celebrity endorsements work?鈥� asks Len Shyles, a Villanova University communication professor, via email. 鈥淵es and no,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n the case of those coming from celebrities of quality and who are viewed as being of good judgment, and who do not fall from grace, they can鈥檛 hurt.鈥�
Veer from that aura of credibility, as happened in the case of聽golf legend Tiger Woods, he adds, and the value of an endorsement can actually be negative.
Politicians need to weigh the upsides and聽downsides carefully, says Matthew Hale, associate professor at Seton Hall University. In general having Hollywood actors directly involved in campaigning hurts more than it helps, because they are generally聽targeted as card-carrying members of the so-called "liberal elite."
But, he says聽this Clint Eastwood ad is different.
鈥淚t was for a car company, not a president, so even though the message 鈥� that America is coming back and coming back strong 鈥撀爓orks for both, it is not聽a movie star directly campaigning for Obama,鈥� he says, adding, 鈥渋t is Dirty Harry and he is an icon on the right, and to have him say things are getting better and America is coming back is a huge plus for Obama.鈥�
This is not the first time the president has been helped by celebrities, he notes.聽The Oprah effect in 2008 was considerable, with many pundits suggesting her strong endorsement of Obama was instrumental in getting out the vote.
But that was not the only help he received. Also in the 2008 campaign, Mr. Hale points out, Will.i.am produced a video called "Yes聽We Can," which featured celebrities singing the words to an Obama speech.聽It captured聽his message聽of hope and change perfectly, he adds.
The door can swing both ways, however, notes Professor Nownes. He notes that while the聽GOP may have benefited in his study from people鈥檚 positive feelings about Manning,聽their feelings toward Manning actually eroded.
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 want their celebrities to be taking sides,鈥� Nownes says, 鈥渟o it cuts both ways.鈥�
