History Shows That Celebrity Endorsements Of Politicians Normally Do Not Work

On this website on July 9, I wrote an article questioning the value of candidate’s receiving endorsements from entertainers.

I said that as “the presidential election draws closer. here’s a sure-to-happen occurrence: Celebrities will announce their support for President Biden, Donald Trump or another Democratic candidate, if President Biden decides not to run for re-election.

 “Why am I willing to bet the farm that the celeb endorsements will happen? Because for many decades prominent celebrities from all walks of the entertainment community have endorsed presidential candidates, most of them favoring the Democrat. And this year will be no different. In fact, if President Biden is replaced by a woman,” I wrote, “ the entertainers who will endorse her will be the greatest ever to back a Democratic candidate, because of the Republican’s attack on abortion rights and the hope that a female candidate might also bring along enough young voters to threaten Mr. Trump’s chance of winning, 

I based my reasoning on history. During presidential election years, the great majority of entertainers publicly endorse the Democratic candidate; fewer publicly endorse the Republican candidate.

And history was repeated as a number of bold face celebs announced their support for Kamala Harris (Taylor Swift had done so weeks ago) during the past three weeks, the most recent being Beyoncé, on October 24.That gave the vice president the endorsements of the two most popular entertainers in the United States, and possibly in the world. 

Within the past few days, a bevy of bold face names from various sectors of our society have endorsed Ms. Harris. They include: LeBron James, 

Madonna, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mark Cuban, Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg. And As I write this on Nov.1 there likely will be others to announce their support.

However, overwhelming endorsements of bold face entertainers of previous Democratic candidates didn’t stop the Republican candidate from winning. If Ms. Harris wins we’ll never know if the endorsements of popular entertainers influenced their followers to vote for the vice president, or if was the hundreds of former GOP officials, who publicly said that Mr. Trump was a danger to our democracy, or was it John Kelly, the retired Marine general who was Donald Trump's White House chief of staff, going publicly saying that the former president admired Hitler and was a fascist and a danger to our democracy. 

The fact that so many bold face names have endorsed Ms. Harris hasn’t changed my position about the important of endorsements. But I’m willing to modify it to “it might not help, but it can’t hurt.”

On May 28, 2023 a post on the CELEB website listed 40 prominent celebs who have endorsed Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. There are others who have spoken in favor of the president since the list was posted and some who have not yet, but will, announce their support for him or an alternative candidate.

“In the world of politics,” said the post, “celebrity endorsements can wield significant influence, shaping public opinion and energizing campaigns. As the 2024 presidential race heats up, Joe Biden has garnered support from an extensive roster of renowned celebrities. (Based on history I strongly disagree with that statement, so strongly that it’s’ in bold font.)

The list included: Beyoncé,  Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Viola Davis, LeBron James, Jennifer Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adele:  Ellen DeGeneres, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson,  Emma Watson,  Leonardo DiCaprio, Serena Williams, Will Smith, Meryl Streep, Chrissy Teigen,  Mark Ruffalo, Billie Eilish,  Reese Witherspoon, John Legend, Bradley Cooper, Alicia Keys,  Julia Roberts, Stephen Curry, Chris Evans,  Lady Gaga,  Robert De Niro,  Ellen Page,  Jay-Z:,  Amy Schumer, Samuel L. Jackson, . Kerry Washington,  Common, Shonda Rhimes,  Stevie Wonder, Eva Longoria and J.J. Abrams.

Since that list was posted Mark Hamill, Carole King, Steven Spielberg, Jimmy Kimmel, Jason Bateman, Kathryn, Hahn. Jack Black, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Barbra Streisand, and Jeffrey Katzeneberg, among others, have in one way or another made known that they were in Mr. Biden’s corner. 

In her Feb. 4 New York Times column, Maureen Dowd listed some celebs who supported Hillary Clinton. They included Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, Jon Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson and Miley Cyrus. 

Kerry supporters included, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond,  Mary J. Blige, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert De Niro, Leonjardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Crystal, the Dave Matthews Band, Bette Midler, James Taylor, Robin Williams, Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder, reported People magazine.

The many celebs supporting Al Gore for president, reported The Guardian, included, Steven Spielberg, Rob Reiner ,Warren Beatty, Kevin Costner, Michael Douglas, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Jerry Seinfeld, Quincy Jones, Tommy Lee Jones, Nancy Sinatra and Barbra Streisand.

Some political strategists think that support of entertainers can make a difference in who wins the presidency. It certainly helps raise money for a candidate, but in my opinion that’s all it does.

I have always doubted that a voter can be swayed by the endorsement of a celebrity. And history backs up my skepticism. Just ask Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, all of whom garnered many more endorsements from A - rated celebs than their GOP counterparts.

But this year’s election has the possibility that endorsers might play a pivotal role. But not from entertainers.

When Taylor Swift announced her endorsement of Ms. Harris, more than 400,000 Swifties registered to vote, and many more might have done so since then. While there’s no assurance that they will all vote for the vice president, it’s likely that most will vote for her, if they bother to vote. If they do, it could be the margin of victory in the closely contested swing states, if, 

and that’s a big IF, if that’s where they are registered to vote and an even bigger IF, if they do vote.

But even more important than Ms. Swift’s or Beyonce’s endorsement is those of hundreds of Republicans, including many who worked directly for or with Mr. Trump, especially those of former veep Dick Chaney and his daughter former Rep. Liz Chaney. 

I rate the endorsements of the former Republicans much more important than those of the Obama’s’ or the Clinton’s, or any entertainer, although they might be able to persuade some Black and Latino voters to come home, instead of swinging to Mr. Trump or staying home.

If the Obama’s and Clinton’s can help reestablish the Democratic coalition that helped President Biden’s election, Ms. Harris can be elected without help from “Republicans for Harris.” But thus far that is not happening, according to polls released a few days before Election Day.

That’s why the Chaney’s and other disgusted with Trump MAGA Republicans who are campaigning for Ms Harris might make the difference. If they convince GOP voters to vote for Ms Harris that would be a big plus for their efforts. But, even if they can’t convince GOP voters to vote for Ms. Harris, they can play an important part by convincing faltering Trump supporters to stay home on Election Day. If enough of them do, it can be the difference between a Trump victory or a Harris presidency.

While time is short, there’s still enough time for more bold face celebrities to announce the support of a candidate – and I’m willing to bet the ranch that most will endorse Ms. Harris. Will they make a difference? I’ll give you my answer on Wednesday, November 6, or sometime in January.

The lesson for PR practitioners is to not automatically think that using a celebrity as a product hawker will pay off because most interviews with a celebrity end up being about the celebrity’s career with limited or mostly no talking points about the product. .Missing will be brand message points. And that doesn’t help the client.