VOA常速英语:Celebrities Support US Presidential Candidates

Since the 1920s, Hollywood stars have played a significant role in supporting and promoting U.S. political candidates. This election season, a huge number of celebrities have given their name, their talents and, sometimes, their money to candidates they favor.

We laugh with them. We shed tears with them. We fall in love with them.

Celebrities influence us.

But are they influential enough to sway people’s political views and their votes?

In the 2008 presidential election, celebrities like Bono and Oprah Winfrey came out for Barack Obama early in the campaign. Their support was seen as important in Obama's scoring big with the youth vote.

This year, women's issues are big. Stars like Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, and Julianne Moore have warned audiences that Mitt Romney would wage war on women, something that Romney denies.

Madonna is also supporting Obama, but she got booed in New Orleans for voicing her opinion.

Other Obama supporters are Ellen DeGeneres, Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry.

Mitt Romney is not unpopular in Hollywood.

Actor/Director Clint Eastwood supports Romney. But his performance at the Republican National Convention, talking to an empty chair, was widely criticized.

Chuck Norris, a conservative Christian, is also a Romney supporter. He produced a video with his wife, warning Americans about what they call “1,000 years of darkness with Obama”.

Hollywood celebrities -- like Steven Spielberg and Sarah Jessica Parker -- are also sources of financial support for the candidates, throwing huge fundraising parties for them.

As the campaigns drew to a close, the rallies were veritable rock concerts, with Bruce Springstein and others coming out to boost their candidate in the final hours.