The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, September 29, 2008 - 7A
CELEBRITIES
From Page 1A
recently to register voters an
encourage volunteers to contint
canvassing for Obama.
Earlier this month, Kal Penn
"Harold and Kumar Go to Whi
Castle" and Jurnee Smollett
"The Great Debaters" register
voters on the Diag. Actress Jam
Lee Curtis met with voluntee
Thursday in Obama's Ann Arb
campaign office.
. Bringing celebrities to collej
campuses has long been a tact
of Democratic campaigns. TI
strategy certainly creates buzz f
the candidates, but some questi
whether entertainers can infi
ence undecided voters.
"Just because someone likes
particular television star doesr
mean they'll vote the way th
television star wants them to
political science Prof. Vince
Hutchings said.
Hutchings said celebrities ha'
little sway in the political aren
but added that campaigns like
take advantage of a celebrity's abi
ity to draw a crowd.
"My suspicion is that the
impact is relatively minimal
Hutchings said. "They mig
motivate people to get registere
if their presence would attract
crowd that wouldn't have show
up otherwise."
LSA junior Andrew Rabenstei
a member of Greek Life for Obam
a committee of the College Dem
crats, said the energy created I
Brody and Leigh Cook's present
was incredible.
Both actors chatted with far
and encouraged everyone to regi
ter, though most in the crtnwd said
they already had. Rabenstein said
the total number of voter regis-
tration forms the group r Oturned
nd hasn't been determined yet, but
ue he estimated that betwaren five
and 10 forms were colle cted at
of each Greek house the can vassers
te hit.
of "If we could have expan ded that
ed to the other houses,whiclEwas our
ie original goal, then we condd have
rs pulled in 20 to 30 people at each
or house," Rabenstein said.
Before joining Brody at SDT,
ge Cook spent about a half Ihour on
ic the Diag in hopes of helping stu-
he dents fill out registratioxrk forms,
or but everyone she encountnred was.
on already registered.
u- Cook said there was a sense that
she and Brody were preaaching to
a the choir, but that they Were suc-
't cessful in their goal of ritcruiting
at and encouraging volunteers.
Hutchings, an expert in election
nt politics, said celebrities w ho make
campaign visits act as chieerlead-
ve ers, energizing already-enlisted
a, volunteers.
to "That might be useful at the
il- margins - to help motivate the
troops, so to speak," he said.
ir "They're already workin g for the
l," candidate they believe in, but it's a
ht nice perk, icing on the cai ke to get
ed to meet a movie star."
a Brody, whose father is a.Univer-
vn sity alum, said he was ap proached
by what he called a "celebrity
n, wrangler" for the campaign, who
a, asked him to accompany Cook to
o- the University to motiva te volun-
by teers.
ce "If bytaking a picture tr talking
to someone for five minu tes, a sup-
ns porter or volunteer, or if I can use
s- that as a barter for gettinag people
to volunteer, then that's great,"
Brody said.
Many of the 50 people in the
Michigan Union's Anderson Room
said meeting the star of the "The
O.C." was part of the reason they
chose to canvass Sunday.
"We haven't had problems turn-
ing people out to canvass this year
even though its not the mostglam-
orous of work, but Adam Brody
and Rachael Leigh Cook made it
all the more exciting," said LSA
junior Dana Cronyn, a member of
the College Democrats.
Brody and Cook made 14 stops
over two days in Michigan. Before
coming to Ann Arbor, the pair
made stops at several Michigan
colleges, including Central Michi-
gan University and Eastern Michi-
gan University.
Both were pragmatic about the
impact their tour would ultimately
have on the outcome of the elec-
tion, but said they were grateful to
meet with young voters.
"I'm just trying to be a part of
it and if I can use the celebrity or
attention for a good cause, that's
great," Brody said. "And at the
same time, I don't think that enti-
tles me a lectern to preach from."
The position of campaign cheer-
leader was one Jamie Lee Curtis
held proudly Thursday.
When she stopped by Barack
Obama's Ann Arbor campaign
office, she rubbed shoulders with
volunteers by making phone calls
for the Democratic nominee and
thanked them for their efforts.
"I do - excuse my French -
shit," Curtis said. "I do nothing
compared to the amount of work
each one of you has done on behalf
of me, on behalf of my kids, of my
country."
DEBATE CLUB
A group of students watches the first presidential debate at the Michigan Union Friday evening. The debate watch, sponsored by
the.University Unions Arts & Programs and the Ginsberg Center, aimed to bring students together in a nonpartisan environment.
SANDALS
From Page 1A
too). You actually had an impact on
the game. Every player and coach
said the crowd support was a huge
boost.
Michigan students take a lot
of heat for being too quiet, not
committed enough and gener-
ally disinterested during football
games. And it's true that often
the student section doesn't stack
up against its peers at Penn State,
Ohio State and just about every
school in the SEC.
But on Saturday, things were
different. The Wolverines were 1-2
and unranked, but everyone still
showed up and got loud when the
time came. No one can say this
studentbody doesn't care about
Michigan football.
Classes that recently graduated
will remember the 2005 win over
Penn State and the 2004 triple-
overtime victory over Michigan
State among their fondest college
memories.
Going back a little further, many
alums reminisce about being in the
Big House for the Ohio State game
in 1997, when Charles Woodson
Kilpatrick stepped down as the
city's mayor in the wake of criminal
charges and scandal. New Detroit
mayor Ken Cockrel, Jr. helped
introduce Obama and Biden at the
rally, emphasizing Detroit's vital
role in the US.
"When Detroit coughs, America
catches a cold," said Cockrel, for-
merly the president of the Detroit
City Council.
He said the media's intense eco-
nomic focus since the Wall Street
crisis is long overdue for many
Americans who have been feeling
the crunch firsthand. "For so many
Americans, for so many people here
took over and by the end of the day,
every Michigan player was holding
a rose and the team was headed for
a National Championship.
Even a game from Bo's first sea-
son, the upset win over Ohio State
in 1969, lives on because everyone
who was at the Big House that day
can't stop talking about.
Well, now we have our game.
- Sandals admits that he was
planning a winter break trip during
halftime, assuming Michiganwould
not reach a bowl game this year.
Those plans are on hold. He can be
reached at nsandals@umich.edu.
in Detroit, it isn'treally news at all,"
Cockrel said.
Keely Czartorski, a Lahser High
School senior who attended the
rally, was an example of Cockrel's
statement. Though Czartorski
won't be old enough to vote this
year, she has been working hard for
Obama in the Birmingham/Bloom-
field campaign office.
"I know what it's like as a family
member to have your dad laid off,
and my cousins are going through
foreclosure right now because of the .
economy," she said. "I want to trust
in someone who is going to have
America's best interest at heart."
OBAMA
From Page 1A
Theylashed out against Republican
presidentialnominee John McCain,
criticizing his answers in Friday
night's first presidential debate.
"On issue after issue, from taxes,
to health care to the war in Iraq,
you heard John McCain make the
case for more of the same," Obama
said.
"He kept on asking me, 'You don't
understand.' No, I understand. You
want more of the same. The same
Bush tax policies, the same Bush
energy policies, the san i e Bush Iraq
policies. A fifth-grader c: ould under-
stand - it's more of the Same."
Though Obama crirticized the
automotive industry for its reluc-
tance to produce hybrid vehicles,
the Illinois senator carried a more
encouragingtone in his -t alk Sunday.
"Nothing could be rnore impor-
tant than us helping ou r auto com-
panies retool and get the laws they
need so that the fuel e fficient cars
of the future are built right here in
Detroit, right here in i Michigan,"
he said. "Not in Japan, not in South
Korea, but right here i n the United
States of America."
Recognizing Michigan and its 17
electoral votes as critical, Obama
has frequented the state and made
it the backdrop for many impor-
tant campaign moments. Former
Vice President Al Gore and John
Edwards both announced their
endorsements of Obama in Michi-
gan, and much of the campaign's
resources have been funneled here.
Michiganhasgenerallygone tothe
Democrats, but is still widely consid-
ered a swing state. John Kerry, the
Democratic presidential nominee in
2004, won Michigan by just 150,000
votes over George Bush.
As the first-ever black presi-
dential nominee of a major party,
Obama hopes to increase turn-
out among voters in Detroit, a city
whose population is more than 80
percentblack.
A recent statewide poll con-
ducted by the Detroit Free Press
found that Obama leads McCain by
13 percentage points, a seven-point
increase from earlier in the month.
The poll has a 4.7 percent margin of
error.
Much has taken place since
Labor Day, when Obama last visited
the Motor City. The crisis on Wall
Street put the country's economic
woes in the spotlight, and Kwame
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