Celebrities and famous people are involved in politics, and are particularly involved in the ongoing battle between the conservatives and the liberals. To some of the famous people, becoming involved in politics is just an ego trip. But to many of the celebrities, there is a sincere desire to get into politics to help their fellow citizens. They want to do some good for their country.
During the presidential election campaign of 2004 and the midterm election campaign of 2006, U.S. citizens were bombarded by American celebrities and famous people - political officeholders, media celebrities, and Hollywood celebrities - seeking support for themselves or theeir political favorites. Additionally, although the elections of 2004 and 2006 are over, the battle between conservatives and liberals goes on. I have compiled a list of some of these famous people in politics. Most of the celebrities are so well-known, they need no introduction, however, I have added a few notes when appropriate.
Note the large number of TV newscasters and radio talk show hosts who have become celebrities. They outnumber the political candidates by far and this is nowhere near a complete list.
As the 2008 presidential election unfolds, many of the famous people and celebrities listed herein will continue to be involved in the conservatism vs. liberalism struggle.
President George W. Bush - Of course, the world's most famous political celebrity! Won reelection relatively easily in the election of 2004.
What a disaster Bush has been!!
Mr. Bush has been repudiated in the midterm elections of 2006 as Democrats have taken over both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Laura Bush. Wife of President Bush. According to Globe Magazine, she is trying hard (and being somewhat successful) in keeping the President off the bottle (I'm sure he could use a drink, right now, with the Iraq War and the economy going to hell) and away from personal contact with Condoleezza Rice!
Vice-President Dick Cheney - Probably the world's second biggest political celebrity and a controversial one at that. Many wanted him removed from Republican ticket in the election of 2004, however, he prevailed.
At least, he hasn't shot anybody else lately!
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - One of the most famous people (celebrity!) in the Republican Party. He is a moderate Republican who appears to be doing a pretty good job in California where he has been reelected to a second term. He needs to get constitution amended so he can run for president. He even has quite a few liberal Hollywood stars supporting him. Schwarzenegger has also earned distinction as an environmentalist.
Senator John McCain - Another moderate Republican. Could have been on either Democratic or Republican ticket in 2004 and will be the Republican Presidential nominee in 2008. He is still courting the conservatives of the Republican Party but that may cost him dearly in the general election.
In my opinion, McCain is going to have to turn on both the fanatical conservatives of his party and also on President Bush to have a chance for election.
McCain's support for the Iraq War will not help him much in the general election although his support for the war might have helped him get the Republican nomination.
However, McCain's biggest problem in the general election is how he looks when matched up against Senator Obama. An old, politician vs. a young rock star with unlimited money, 100 % of the black vote, most of the young vote (if they vote!), and a majority of women voters! McCain will do well in states like Kansas and Louisiana. Obama will do well in California & New York. Guess who wins?
Ex- Mayor Rudy Giuliani - Mayor Giuliani would also have made a good replacement for Cheney in 2004. He campaigned hard to head the Republican ticket in 2008 but Senator McCain overtook him and he had to drop from the race. Giuliani is a "pro-choicer" and was partially blackballed by the conservatives for that reason.
Giuliani would have had a good chance of being elected if he had gotten the Republican nomination.
ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Ran hard for the Republican Presidential Nomination. An attractive candidate with a good record but he could not overtake Senator McCain. In my opinion, Romney would make a strong Vice-Presidential nominee for McCain.
ex- Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Campaigned hard for the Republican presidential nomination. Has surprised people with his success so far and could be considered for the Vice-Presidential nominee.
ex-Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee. A part-time TV and Hollywood actor. Thompson was actively seeking the Republican nomination. He faded fast and dropped out of the race.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - Could also have replaced Cheney on Republican ticket in 2004?. Gets along well with President Bush (according to Globe magazine, maybe too well!). She is a good "yes" person. For a brief time, she was talked up as a possibility to be on the Republican ticket in 2008? That talk has now ended with the failures in Iraq, etc. Also, her infamous slip of the tongue when she called President Bush her husband!
I think she is history!
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Could have been president! After destroying himself politically by lying to the world about WMD's in Iraq, Powell is finally trying to make make up for his terrible lies. He joined the fight against Bush's torture proposals. At last!
Mr. Powell, you could have been president! How could you let someone like Bush talk you into destroying your good name? Please continue your efforts to make amends. Despite your faults, you were the best of the Bush bunch!
Senator Larry Craig (R) of Idaho. Senator Craig is still fighting charges after being caught in a men's room sex sting operation. Senator Craig seems like a nice guy but the Republican Party has zero tolerance for gays. Craig still denies that he is gay!
Senator Hillary Clinton - Exposed "vast right wing conspiracy!" while we all laughed at her. We're not laughing any more. No, Rush Limbaugh, she wasn't on the 2004 Democratic ticket despite all your predictions that she would be! But she fought like a tiger to be on the 2008 Democratic ticket. She would have helped herself more if she had campaigned harder for Kerry.
As long as lame-duck President Bush continues to goof up on all issues and as long as the Iraq War is still going on, Clinton would have had a good shot at being elected. Take away those two items, however, and she would be in trouble....she is disliked by so many.
(Clinton may still end up on the Democratic ticket as the veep candidate......If Obama thinks he needs her to win. Obama is no fool!)
Senator Barrack Obama of Illinois - An instant political celebrity! ; A rock star! The Democrat is fighting hard and getting lots of good press. Was key-note speaker at Democratic Convention in 2004 and has shown himself to be an excellent organizer. Obama has the Democratic nomination sewed up. Is the country ready for a black president?
Senator John Edwards - Chosen by Kerry to be Vice-Presidential nominee for election of 2004. Was looking forward to 2008 but he was a decided underdog to Hillary and Obama and has now dropped from the race. Edwards is a nice guy but don't "nice guys always finish last?"
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean - His organization revolutionized the American political scene during the election of 2004. The media screwed him royally but he is now being heard from again. Governor Dean was made Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and, in my opinion, has done a good job.
Senator Ted Kennedy - Old Democratic war horse. Not afraid to speak out. Right-wingers hate him so he can't be all bad! Kennedy is now in the fight of his life with cancer. Good luck, Senator!
Ex-President Bill Clinton - Ex-President. He and Hillary are both rapidly becoming wealthy with book, speeches, etc. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Campaigned for Senator Kerry, and in 2008, campaigned hard for Hillary. Rush Limbaugh and other right wingers still love to attack him.
Ray Nagin - New Orleans mayor. Had to resort to some tough profanity to get the feds off their asses and provide assistance to his devastated city after Katrina. Will the bible thumpers ever forgive him? They think the Tribulation is at hand and Nagin is taking the Lord's name in vain! And being mayor of New Orleans - sin city, USA!
The bible thumpers want to really reform New Orleans - make a Tyler, Texas out of it! New Orleans is not Tyler, Texas!
Nagin recently won reelection as mayor over Senator Mary Landrieu's brother, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu. And surprise! Surprise! The Republicans backed Nagin. The Republicans may not like Nagin too well but they will do anything to hurt Senator Landrieu. She put an old fashioned butt-whipping on them in 2002 and they have sworn revenge in 2008 when she is up for reelection.
Republican support of Nagin and the slow federal response to rebuilding New Orleans, Senator Landrieu's home town, seem to be part of the "get Mary Landrieu" scheme.
Ex-Vice President Al Gore - Ever so often, he emerges from his cave to gore a few Republicans then he retreats back to his cave. Gore recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts on global warming. He has now made a highly rated global warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which I recently viewed.
Too bad, Gore didn't try for the Democratic nomination this year. I like him better than Obama!
Gore should have let President Clinton campaign for him in 2000. The disaster of 2000 would not have happened!
Senator John Kerry - Presidential candidate on Democratic ticket for election of 2004. Got his butt handed to him. Good man but not tough enough to handle the conservative street fighters. Kerry should never have conceded the 2004 election just hours after the election was over and with reports of irregular voting pouring in.
Kerry is history!
Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Lieberman has become unpopular with many Democrats and lost the Democratic primary election in Connecticut for senator to challenger Ned Lamont. However, he defeated Lamont in the general election.
Senator Lieberman seems determined to maintain his middle-of-the-road positions, no matter what. Could he end up on one of the national tickets as the vice-presidential nominee?
Don Imus - Outspoken TV and radio talk show host. Lost his job for making racially-tinted remarks about the Rutgers girl's basketball team. Imus often ridicules virtually all public figures so he has many enemies. Imus is not all bad - he does quite a bit of charity work.
After a period of well-deserved punishment, Imus is coming back. He is a good host, far better than right-wing nut, Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh can say virtually anything and get away with it - he is the darling of the conservative-Republican ruling party.
Rush Limbaugh - King of conservative talk radio. Unofficial propaganda minister for the Republican Party. His talk show is carried on many radio stations. Limbaugh is the heart and soul of the conservative movement and of the Republican Party. The Democrats, in 2000 & 2004, made a fatal mistake underestimating the influence of Limbaugh. There are a lot of ditto-heads around the country who listen to his every word. The Democrats should have gone after Rush. He might have cracked.
Rush Limbaugh reached his lowest point ever, just before the 2006 midterm elections, when he mockingly accused Parkinson's-disease victim, Michael J. Fox, of exaggerating the disease in a TV political commercial.
The conservatives and Republicans suffered a major defeat in the 2006 elections, partly as a result of Limbaugh's antics. But Republicans still love the big fellow!
Will Limbaugh be able to hang on to his lucrative job? He should keep an eye on Ann Coulter who is coming up in his rear view mirror.
Bill O'Reilly - FOX TV News number 1. TV's 'Rush Limbaugh'. Got caught in sexual harassment in 2005 and had to pay up big-time.
Chris Matthews - TV commentator - MSNBC. Fairly neutral in politics but really has been giving it to President Bush lately.
Robert Novak - Right wing TV commentator -- CNN. Got personally involved in the election of 2004 when he allegedly helped leak the name of a CIA undercover agent to the public.
Mr. Novak is now struggling with cancer and will be out of the limelight for a time.
Dan Rather - Retired (put out to pasture!) TV newscaster - CBS. You had a great run, Dan, despite what Rush Limbaugh says!
Ann Coulter - One of the most famous women political figures. Conservative-Republican author and frequent FOX TV commentator. Watch out Rush! She wants your job. She is in your rear-view mirror!
Coulter is more of a right-wing fanatic than Rush Limbaugh ever dreamed of being.
Maureen Dowd - Princess of the liberal political columnists. She does not like the Bush administration. Excellent writer. Conservatives hate her and with good reason. No one - except maybe Hillary Clinton or the late Molly Ivins - has been better at exposing their weaknesses and scams.
Neal Boortz - One of the main challengers to take over the reins from Rush Limbaugh if Rush has to be replaced due to his recent antics. Like Limbaugh, Boortz takes no prisoners. According to Boortz, he is a "conservative" and not a Republican! He can be pretty insulting but interesting to listen to.
Sean Hannity - Another of the right-wing commentators after Rush Limbaugh's job!
Michael J. Fox - Prior to the 2006 midterm election, Fox made some TV ads supporting Democratic Senatorial candidates who support stem-cell research. Rush Limbaugh mockingly accused Fox of exaggerating his Parkinson's illness for the purpose of the ad.
Keep up the good work on stem-cell research, Michael!
Oprah Winfrey - Great celebrity interviewer! Always involved in the political or social scene.
Barbra Streisand - Actress and singer. Strong Democratic activist.
Michael Moore - Film maker. Strong anti-war activist. Under attack from Republicans for the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. His documentaries are a revolutionary concept and have made him a rich man!
Bono - Of U2 fame. Very outspoken and has considerable clout even among the conservatives.
Martin Sheen - Actor who played the President on West Wing. Activist for liberal causes.
Warren Beatty - Actor. Liberal activist.
Tom Cruise - Star of "War of the Worlds." Independent thinker and strong believer in Scientology. Recently engaged (or married) to actress Katie Holmes and he is initiating her into Scientology. The religious fanatics behind the conservative movement are not going to like his promotion of Scientology. The prescription drug folks are not going to like him either because he is against most prescription drugs.
T. Boone Pickens. Billionaire oilman. Not really in politics at this time but his efforts in regard to the energy crisis are so important that they will affect the political landscape. Pickens got tired of people sitting around and talking about the energy crisis while doing nothing about that he became determined to plot a course of action. Hence, the "Picken's Plan." Under the Picken's Plan, the nation would turn heavily to compressed natural gas for automobile fuel while alternative energy sources are being developed. The alternative energy source that he is pushing is wind power and his company is building the largest wind farm (windmills) min the world in Texas. Pickens is putting his money where his mouth is. He is even paying for the publicity campaign he is conducting for the Picken's Plan.
Pickens is 80 years old and is not running for any political office. I wish he were running for president!
Cindy Sheehan - Mother, who lost a son in Iraq and complained, was roughed up by the right wing media but she is hanging in there.
President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. President of Iran is stirring things up by supporting nuclear energy projects for Iran and stating that Israel should be destroyed. Keeps thumbing his nose at the U.S! Are Ahmadinejad and Iran on a collision course with the United States?
In the 2006 Hezbollah - Israel clash, Ahmadinejad was able to showcase Iran's homemade rockets. Iran is fast developing a capability for building first-class conventional weapons. They were caught short in their 1980's war with Iraq when the U.S. & Mid-East countries supported Iraq and prevented Iran from obtaining weapons. Iran apparently has plans to sell their home-developed weapons to other countries. That brings them into competition with the U.S., France, and others.
I suspect orders for rockets are pouring in.
Saddam Hussein. The former ruler of Iraq was found guilty for his many crimes against humanity and was hung in a botched execution as his political foes mocked him.
Saddam Hussein was never a danger to the U.S. or to the world as Bush got people to believe. But he was a miserable person and was a danger to his own people.
Good riddance!
Sheik Hasan Nasrallah. Hezbollah leader. His reputation is growing as Hezbollah fought Israel to a standstill in 2006. Will he become the overall leader of the anti-Israel factions around the Middle East? Nasrallah has been described by Israel officials as the shrewdest leader in the Arab world......and the most dangerous.
There is a new kid on the block in the Middle East. His name is Hezbollah and he is smart and dangerous.
Pat Robertson - Favorite preacher of the conservatives and the Republican Party. God talks to him and Robertson then discloses God's plans on TV. Had to apologize about his televised remark recommending that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez be assassinated.
Hugo Chavez. Left-leaning Venezuelan President who Pat Robertson recommended be assassinated. Not too long ago, there were rumors that Venezuela was slated for "democratization" by the Bush Administration. That effort may have been put on hold due to the deteriorated Iraq situation!
(Chavez recently called Bush "the devil" in an address to the United Nations. If Bush ever gets out of Iraq, look out Chavez!)
Chavez is funny and a little screwy. He reminds me of the dictator in the Woody Allen movie who mandated that his citizens wear their underwear on the outside for easy inspection.
Fidel Castro. Former Cuban Communist dictator. Just resigned due to illness. Ailing. Will his brother set a new path for Cuba?
Osama Bin Laden - Still hiding and sneering at us. But is he being supplanted in Al Qaida by young, new leadership? Stay tuned.
Vladimir Putin - The former Soviet boss keeps acting independent, not at all like an American stooge should. Are he and his replacement trying to resurrect the "evil empire"?
1. George Soros vs. George Bush. George Soros does not like George Bush. Will he stay active after Bush is out of office?
2. Famous Germans of World War 2. Hitler, Goering, Goebbles, Speer, etc. Talented but ruthless men. They made the Nazi regime work. If President Bush had these type people working for him, he would be dangerous. Fortunately, his people are more like the "gang that couldn't shoot straight" or "The Three Stooges."
3. Famous Oil Experts & Oil Companies. The oil experts and oil companies who produce our energy. Can they handle Peak Oil and the Energy Crisis.
4. Conservatism vs. Liberalism. The 2008 Presidential Election is a new election, but it is still the same old struggle.....the fight between conservatives vs. liberals.
5. Tarantino. America's most talented movie director. Mucho violence but movies are entertaining.
The elections and politics of 2004 and 2006 featured famous people from various fields - government, business, media, Hollywood, etc, - campaigning for Republican and Democratic candidates. These celebrities and famous people are involved in the politics of the election of 2008.
Last Updated: 08/03/08
e-mail me @ vanc13@cox.net
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