Obama campaign uses star power to court volunteers

[October 31, 2008]  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Edie Falco is fidgeting and looks nervous. The star of "The Sopranos" admits to her North Carolina audience that she's a product of lower Manhattan who barely understands voters above 14th Street. She talks for just five minutes and never mentions John McCain or George Bush.

"I've never had any intentions of trying to change anybody's mind," says Falco, a Barack Obama supporter. "I've heard a lot of celebrities talking about politics who, in my estimation, are not qualified to do so."

She adds, "Frankly, I'm embarrassed sometimes that they are representing my ilk, if you will."

For the seemingly endless number of celebrities who back Obama, trying to persuade people who already support the Illinois senator to volunteer for his campaign is as important as swaying undecided voters.

Four years ago, rocker Bruce Springsteen was the face of celebrity politics, making his first public endorsement of a candidate with a column in The New York Times before leading a series of swing-state concerts to urge a vote for Democratic nominee John Kerry.

While Obama has his share of celebrity concerts and endorsements -- singer Dave Matthews playing a show in his home state of Virginia, legendary driver and team owner Junior Johnson sending an e-mail to NASCAR fans -- he is using his support among famous faces differently.

"They're less focused on being messengers for the campaign and are more plugged in to helping the organization be more effective," said Bill Carrick, a California Democratic consultant and veteran of past presidential campaigns.

"You've got people in the campaign working very, very hard and surviving on buckets of fried chicken, pizzas and caffeine," Carrick said. "It's nice to have somebody come in and appreciate them."

For Falco's stops in North Carolina, the campaign placed her in front of a few dozen dedicated Obama supporters.

"If you have any extra time to volunteer, between now and then, or on Election Day at the polls, you can help the workers or bring food to people who are exhausted," she told them.

The GOP has tried to bring celebrities into its fold, but the party knows that's not its base.

"We were making a list of who are some celebrity singers who could come out and help us and, gosh, for the life of us, the pickings were slim there," Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said at a fundraiser in Greensboro last month. "Who's quasi-conservative out there in the celebrity land?"

Between production work for his FOX series "House," actor Kal Penn is working phone banks for Obama and helping out in other ways. While he mentions why he decided to campaign for Obama in the Iowa caucuses, he does little to lay out Obama's policies.

Instead, Penn urged about 100 college students at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, some wearing pajama pants and munching on breakfast at a midday event last Sunday, to get involved in any way possible.

"It requires a little bit of sacrifice -- and we're hoping that you do that because the stakes are just way too high," Penn said. "The simple acts of what you guys are doing -- volunteering and signing up -- is going to make the difference."

[Associated Press; By MIKE BAKER]

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