Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
The Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia has been a star-studded event, last night brought appearances from Meryl Streep, Lena Dunham, America Ferrera and actress Elizabeth Banks.
For more on the role celebrities are playing in the presidential election, Ted Johnson who writes about the intersection of politics and entertainment for Variety, joined the show to discuss.
"It's entertainment and what we're seeing, especially in this presidential campaign is, that's the way that a lot of people seem to be digesting their politics. It gets people to listen to the candidate it gets people to listen to what they say about the issues and in this case it probably got some people to take note of the democratic convention. For the people in the arena, it was kind of a relief last night, in between a lot of professional politician speakers, something that they tend to do at these conventions but I think we're seeing more and more campaigns try to use humor as a way of really hooking the audience and getting people to pay attention."
"It probably does a little bit, but nothing is going to be as powerful as Bernie Sanders endorsing Hillary Clinton and asking the delegates to approve her nomination by acclimation, as we saw last night. I think what celebrities can do is kind of the bandwagon effect. 'This is the way I'm leaning, there are these other celebrities who are also leaning this way, maybe you should get on board.' I still don't think it is as powerful as having a friend or a neighbor or a family member say, 'I like this candidate, maybe you should as well.' but I do think there is some impact because we see campaigns use celebrities, cycle after cycle and it's not just democrats..."
"Yes, in past cycles, Democrats have always been a little bit hesitant in how much they use celebrities, and which celebrities they are. I don't think they have the same worry in past cycles probably for the biggest reason being, they're facing a celebrity, Donald Trump. He embraces showbiz, he's a reality TV star, so if the Republicans were to say 'Oh, they're just part of the elite,' I think the Democrats can come right back and say 'Well, listen, your candidate is someone who likes mingling with celebrities. He loves their adulation, so what are you talking about?'"
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.