Super Bowl, Super Tuesday and Super Endorsements

Posted by Corinne Ramey, Drum Major Institute at 5:35 AM on February 5, 2008.

It's been an exciting week so far. Not only did the Giants win the Super Bowl in a spectacular upset, but today voters in 24 states will go to the polls and possibly determine the presidential nominees. In honor of these two, uh, "super" events, polls are comparing the relative "excitement level" of Sunday and Tuesday to see if Americans get more excited about football or politics, and even the constantly-campaigning presidential candidates took some time off to watch the Super Bowl.

It's Tuesday morning, and if you're one of the 10-15% of undecided Super Tuesday voters nationwide, you're just not sure who to vote for today. Perhaps you've thought about the issues -- if you're like most Americans, the economy, the war in Iraq, and health care are at the top of your list -- but still haven't decided. In that case, let me offer you an alternative -- and much less informed -- way to make that hard Super Tuesday choice: celebrity endorsements. Sure, there have been a lot of celebrities making endorsements for fairly ridiculous reasons. Sylvestor Stallone is endorsing McCain because "Reality is pretty brutal and pretty hard-edged like a rough action film, and you need somebody who's been in that to deal with it," and Hulk Hogan is voting for Obama because "he seems like the real deal," but there actually are some celebrities who mention, believe it or not, actual policy. So in honor of Super Tuesday, here are some the choices some of the more famous among us will make when they go to the ballot box (or eelectronic voting machine) this election.

Hulk Hogan may be rooting for Obama, but another veritable action hero, Chuck Norris, has put himself firmly behind Mike Huckabee. Norris likes that Huckabee is "an avid fisherman, hunter and a long-term member of the NRA," and is "not afraid to stand up for a Creator." However, he also manages to list a few policy concerns, noting some of Huckabee's acheivements as governor of Arkansas. Norris writes,

"As governor, Mike led the citizens of Arkansas through difficult conditions. He balanced the budget each year, enhanced technology in commerce, was tough on crime, used tobacco lawsuit monies to better health care, initiated a toll-free hotline to report tips on government corruption and 16 times had to endure the long nights of the soul before he gave permission for executions to proceed. He also initiated the ARKids First program, cutting the number of uninsured children in half."

To Norris' credit, while Huckabee's health care proposal isn't great, the use of tobacco-related money and the ARKids First program have some similarities to the SCHIP legislation, which would have provided health care for millions of uninsured children. However, despite the similarities, Huckabee called the SCHIP bill "problematic" and "just not a good solution." As for his "16 nights of the soul," Huckabee might have been more effective if, instead of prayer, he had used DNA testing much like that used to exonerate innocent convicts in Dallas, but at least the governor gave the issue some thought.

Not convinced that an action hero can tell you who to vote for? Maybe you can look to Craig from Craigslist for the answers. The founder of the famous classified ad website (which, incidentally, is the source of almost every piece of furniture in my apartment) has put his weight behind Obama, and publically endorsed the candidate everywhere from the Huffington Post to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The self-described "nerd, not a wonk" has endorsed Obama not only because of his call for "change," but for his stance on the Iraq War and veterans' issues. Given that one in three Iraq War vets will face serious mental health issues and, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 195,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, Craig is right to consider veterans' issues a primary concern.

Barbra Streisand, on the other hand, has formally endorsed Clinton, noting not only Clinton's "powerful voice for change" but saying that, "She will prioritize issues of global climate change, universal health care and rebuilding a strong economy." In an editorial in yesterday's Times, Paul Krugman agreed with Streisand, arguing that Clinton's health care plan is likely to cover far more people than Obama's due to the inclusion of mandates. He writes, "Specifically, new estimates say that a plan resembling Mrs. Clinton's would cover almost twice as many of those now uninsured as a plan resembling Mr. Obama's -- at only slightly higher cost." When it comes to environmental voting records, Obama and Clinton have similar records. One environmental watch group, the League of Conservation voters, gave Obama a 96 and Clinton a 90. In any case, both candidates are miles above John McCain's Lifetime Conservation Score of 26.

Hip-hop icon Russell Simmons is having a harder time making up his mind. Simmons had previously endorsed Edwards -- the two attended a yoga class together -- but finds himself torn between Clinton and Obama. Simmons says that he's heard more specific proposals from Clinton on the environment, conflict resolution and poverty. However, the Def Jam/Phat Farm founder still says that his "heart" is with Obama, and can't decide between his "heart" and his "brain."

Perhaps you don't need the likes of Hulk Hogan and Chuck Norris to help you make up your mind, and you just want to find out where to vote? If you live in New York City, use the NYC Board of Elections Polling Place Locator to find out.

Will this Super Tuesday be as exciting a contest as Super Bowl Sunday? Will all of Obama's "if the Giants can do it we can too" comments come true? And does anyone actually care about celebrity endorsements? Only time will tell...

Tagged as: hogan, norris, stallone, mccain, huckabee, obama, clinton, super tuesday

Corinne Ramey is currently an intern at the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy.