Politics: Welcome to Hollywood
The political scene is not only reserved for the people of Capitol Hill, but more recently has been drawing some from the Hollywood Hills.
Toch Ihemelu
In recent years there has been an increase in the involvement of people from the entertainment business playing a role in politics. From Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming governor of California, to P.Diddy's Vote or Die Campaign. The question is, has their involvement had an affect on the regular citizen's interest in their countries politics, especially youth and young adults?
Katie Frank, a freshman at Creighton University, believes that people have been drawn to the poles because of the publicity the celebrities have received. A candidate with an established reputation in the public eye definitely has an advantage over an unknown candidate because they have already built up a following of supporters who will follow them from one form of media into another.
"Many people forget that Ronald Reagan began his career as an actor, not a politician. As long as a ‘celebrity’ has intelligence beyond their public persona, they are just as capable as ‘typical politicians’ to hold office," Frank said.
Frank thinks that people who have been in the public eye may even be better adapted to a career in politics because they have already developed the necessary skills in dealing with the media, avoiding paparazzi and maintaining a positive public image.
Practice what they preach
Frank has a positive view on the efforts of those celebrities who play an active role in politics, but does believe that there is an exception to this.
"I like the fact that celebrities such as P. Diddy or Paris Hilton are making an effort to encourage the younger generation of voters to get to the poles, but I question their motives. I think it was embarrassing for Paris Hilton when it was discovered that she, herself, had not even registered to vote," Frank said. "On P. Diddy's campaign, it has been affective in getting young people to vote, but it would be more affective if the spokespeople were politically active themselves. The best leader is one who does so by example."
Creighton senior and political science major, Paige Pahlke, seems to share the same views as Frank.
"Celebrities do bring a lot more attention to political spears because of their well known names. They do bring more young people because they can relate to them more than the older politicians," Pahlke said.
She also believes that a celebrity leading by example is far more affective than just talk.
Making an impact
Dr. Crawford, a professor of political science at Creighton, described the main impact of a celebrity is bringing attention to particular issues. One of the challenges for supporters of any political issue is to get media coverage of an event or topic.
"Celebrities are big help here because they can make an event ‘newsworthy’ to various outlets by just being there," Dr. Crawford said. "One would not expect celebrities to change people’s minds on a political issue, but they may have an impact by getting people to know about or care about an issue that they otherwise would ignore."
On the issue of celebrities having a positive or negative impact on people's decisions, Dr. Crawford said, "Those who already disagree with an issue are the ones most likely to dislike the fact that a celebrity is speaking on that issue, so the celebrity speaking on the issue isn't turning people away, just annoying people who already disagree."