海角大神

Is Kal Penn 鈥� the actor who plays Kumar in the "Harold & Kumar" movies 鈥� a breakout star of the Democratic National Convention?

His speech to delegates Tuesday was very well received, a fact that got swamped by all the attention devoted to Michelle Obama after she appeared later in the day. Of course, Mr. Penn鈥檚 a professional, so it should not be a surprise that he was fairly smooth. In the address he noted that besides making movies he has worked in the White House Office of Public Engagement under President Obama.

鈥淢y favorite job was having a boss who gave the order to take out bin Laden 鈥� and who鈥檚 cool with all of us getting gay-married. Thank you, invisible man in the chair for that.鈥�

You understand the 鈥渋nvisible man鈥� reference, right? He鈥檚 taking a dig there at Clint Eastwood, whose speech to an invisible Mr. Obama was one of the highlights of the Republican National Convention. Or lowlights, depending on whether you thought it was odd.

Anyway, the partisan Democratic crowd loved it, and now he鈥檚 a Twitter star, with everybody discussing his speech under the hashtag he asked them to use, #sexyface.

He also made fun of the profanity-prone Rahm Emmanuel, a former Obama chief and current mayor of Chicago, who also spoke Tuesday.

鈥淚 really enjoyed listening to Rahm鈥檚 speech. But he鈥檚 a mayor now, so he can鈥檛 use four-letter words,鈥� said Penn.

OK, maybe that鈥檚 funnier if you鈥檝e heard Emmanuel swear, because it is terrifying when he鈥檚 on a roll.

Penn鈥檚 getting highlighted at the DNC in part because he鈥檚 hosting the livestream of Obama鈥檚 speech on Thursday night, and they鈥檙e trying to build traffic. In that sense his appearance was like a network TV ad for an upcoming show. The Obama campaign Tuesday released an ad in which Obama places a phone call to tell someone he鈥檚 counting on them. Cut to Harold and Kumar, aka actors John Cho and Penn, in character.

鈥淲ho was that?鈥� asks Harold.

鈥淭he president,鈥� says Kumar.

鈥淪weet,鈥� says Harold. Then they both laugh at a cartoon they鈥檙e watching, and the ad cuts again, to a promotion of the livestream.

We鈥檝e noted this is pretty edgy, in that Harold and Kumar are stoners in their movies, and they鈥檙e acting pretty, uh, out of it in the ad. Didn鈥檛 Obama used to belong to a 鈥淐hoom gang鈥� that smoked a lot of pot? Do they care if that comes up again?

Apparently not, because Penn鈥檚 back with released Wednesday. OK, it鈥檚 more of a clip, and he鈥檚 not pretending to be stoned. He鈥檚 interviewing VP Joe Biden, and he says to Joe, 鈥淭here are a lot of pictures of you with your aviators on, and people love them. Do you have them on you right now?

Biden then pulls a pair of aviator-style sunglasses out from under his suit jacket.

鈥淚 tell you what, I鈥檝e been wearing these since I was 17 years old,鈥� says the Veep.

鈥淚 have mine,鈥� replies Penn. 鈥淪o for our friends on the Internet, thank you very much.鈥�

They both put on their sunglasses, then they fist bump. Cut to an ad for a full-length interview between the pair that鈥檚 set to air prior to Obama鈥檚 Thursday acceptance speech.

OK, first Penn pretended to be a stoner, now he鈥檚 yucking it up with a VP who gets criticized for being a bit of a loose cannon 鈥� what鈥檚 going on here? The Obama team needs all the youth vote it can get, obviously, and they鈥檙e doing all they can to get the under-30 crowd energized. Still, it鈥檚 edgy, at least by the old standards of presidential campaigning.