February 11, 2009 4:13 PM

Poll: Split Over Celebrities In Politics

By
CBSNews
(CBS)  Americans are divided as to whether Hollywood celebrities ought to get involved in politics, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds.

Forty-nine percent of those surveyed say celebrities should stay out of politics, while 46 percent think they should get involved if they choose.

Democrats and liberals are much more welcoming of celebrity involvement in politics than Republicans and conservatives. Sixty-nine percent of Republicans said celebrities should stay out of politics, compared to just 33 percent of Democrats.

Women are more supportive of celebrities getting involved in politics than men. Thirty-six percent of men thought celebrities should get involved, compared with 56 percent of women. Young people are also more supportive, with 53 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 saying celebrities should get involved.

Few Americans believe that a celebrity endorsement will translate into votes for a candidate. Just 11 percent think that an endorsement will cause the people they know to be more likely to vote for that candidate.

One possible exception involves Oprah Winfrey: In a CBS News poll conducted in August, 31 percent of voters said that the people they knew were more likely to vote for Barack Obama because of Winfrey's endorsement of him.



This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1263 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone September 4-9, 2007. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. An oversample of those with family members who are now serving in the U.S. armed forces or the U.S. reserves was also conducted for this poll, for a total of 308 interviews among this group. The results were then weighted in proportion to the composition of the adult population in the U.S. Census.

Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved.
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by jack3213 September 18, 2007 8:00 PM EDT
Celebrities get much too much attention beyond their lack of talent and skill. You all know they read scripts for a living, right? Who cares what they all think. They don''t know what they think. Time to think for yourselves.
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by jacksteen1 September 18, 2007 7:23 PM EDT
This nation was fooled by the Great Drooler, Ronnie Ragoon - who actually sometimes confused some of his movie-hero roles with what he actually did in WWII Hollywood...made second-rate war bond movie trailers and USO appeals. He actually thought he was some sort of a hero. He died a drooling fool, actually exactly what he deserved for bilking the nation with his lies and allowing the ''christian'' reich to take over the nation. WE STILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS IGNORANCE.

Fred "Basset Face" Thompson is no better...his brand of spoiled cornpone can be found in any high school drama coach South of the Mason-Dixon Line. To think the rubes of Tennessee are so ignorant to have chosen him to represent them shows the relative ease those bumpkins can be deceived into thinking that a sow''s ear CAN be made into a silk purse.

Enough actors. Enough of the Republishit Party. It''s done for at least the next 16 years...bet on it, bumpkins.

"Yes Ma''am, Madame President Clinton!"
Reply to this comment
by jacksteen1 September 18, 2007 7:23 PM EDT
This nation was fooled by the Great Drooler, Ronnie Ragoon - who actually sometimes confused some of his movie-hero roles with what he actually did in WWII Hollywood...made second-rate war bond movie trailers and USO appeals. He actually thought he was some sort of a hero. He died a drooling fool, actually exactly what he deserved for bilking the nation with his lies and allowing the ''christian'' reich to take over the nation. WE STILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS IGNORANCE.

Fred "Basset Face" Thompson is no better...his brand of spoiled cornpone can be found in any high school drama coach South of the Mason-Dixon Line. To think the rubes of Tennessee are so ignorant to have chosen him to represent them shows the relative ease those bumpkins can be deceived into thinking that a sow''s ear CAN be made into a silk purse.

Enough actors. Enough of the Republishit Party. It''s done for at least the next 16 years...bet on it, bumpkins.

"Yes Ma''am, Madame President Clinton!"
Reply to this comment
by jacksteen1 September 18, 2007 7:23 PM EDT
This nation was fooled by the Great Drooler, Ronnie Ragoon - who actually sometimes confused some of his movie-hero roles with what he actually did in WWII Hollywood...made second-rate war bond movie trailers and USO appeals. He actually thought he was some sort of a hero. He died a drooling fool, actually exactly what he deserved for bilking the nation with his lies and allowing the ''christian'' reich to take over the nation. WE STILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS IGNORANCE.

Fred "Basset Face" Thompson is no better...his brand of spoiled cornpone can be found in any high school drama coach South of the Mason-Dixon Line. To think the rubes of Tennessee are so ignorant to have chosen him to represent them shows the relative ease those bumpkins can be deceived into thinking that a sow''s ear CAN be made into a silk purse.

Enough actors. Enough of the Republishit Party. It''s done for at least the next 16 years...bet on it, bumpkins.

"Yes Ma''am, Madame President Clinton!"
Reply to this comment
by jacksteen1 September 18, 2007 7:23 PM EDT
This nation was fooled by the Great Drooler, Ronnie Ragoon - who actually sometimes confused some of his movie-hero roles with what he actually did in WWII Hollywood...made second-rate war bond movie trailers and USO appeals. He actually thought he was some sort of a hero. He died a drooling fool, actually exactly what he deserved for bilking the nation with his lies and allowing the ''christian'' reich to take over the nation. WE STILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS IGNORANCE.

Fred "Basset Face" Thompson is no better...his brand of spoiled cornpone can be found in any high school drama coach South of the Mason-Dixon Line. To think the rubes of Tennessee are so ignorant to have chosen him to represent them shows the relative ease those bumpkins can be deceived into thinking that a sow''s ear CAN be made into a silk purse.

Enough actors. Enough of the Republishit Party. It''s done for at least the next 16 years...bet on it, bumpkins.

"Yes Ma''am, Madame President Clinton!"
Reply to this comment
by jacksteen1 September 18, 2007 7:23 PM EDT
This nation was fooled by the Great Drooler, Ronnie Ragoon - who actually sometimes confused some of his movie-hero roles with what he actually did in WWII Hollywood...made second-rate war bond movie trailers and USO appeals. He actually thought he was some sort of a hero. He died a drooling fool, actually exactly what he deserved for bilking the nation with his lies and allowing the ''christian'' reich to take over the nation. WE STILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS IGNORANCE.

Fred "Basset Face" Thompson is no better...his brand of spoiled cornpone can be found in any high school drama coach South of the Mason-Dixon Line. To think the rubes of Tennessee are so ignorant to have chosen him to represent them shows the relative ease those bumpkins can be deceived into thinking that a sow''s ear CAN be made into a silk purse.

Enough actors. Enough of the Republishit Party. It''s done for at least the next 16 years...bet on it, bumpkins.

"Yes Ma''am, Madame President Clinton!"
Reply to this comment
by cbs_oliver September 18, 2007 6:48 PM EDT
Maybe formal education is a problem for some celebrities but Tucker Carlson has what it takes.

He has a high school diploma.
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by gunnerv1 September 18, 2007 6:31 PM EDT
For all of these actors, only about 5% have a degree higher than High School, about 15% have a High School Diploma, about another 20% have a GED and the rest are High School Drop Outs. Now this is what I want to be advising my elected leadership.......... NOT!!!
Reply to this comment
by cbs_oliver September 18, 2007 4:56 PM EDT
I see no reason to complain that Ronald Reagan, Arnaold Schwarzenegger, Fred Thompson, Ben Stein, Dennis Miller, Clint Eastwood, Shawn Hannity, Bill O''Reilly. and so on and so on are political celebrities.

I don''t have much use for their generally depraved political views but don''t mind them sharing them.

This is a free country. Even for folks like them.
Reply to this comment
by doncow September 18, 2007 4:22 PM EDT
While I believe in free speech, I know that it is stupid of the Democrats to constantly insult me and my politics in shows that should be for entertainment. Keep your *** politics in the proper channels. If you have a show about politics, great, I won''t watch it. I will, however, watch something that is entertaining UNTIL I hear your nasty remarks about the ancestry of Republicans or some other hateful remark. Then I will never watch it again.
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