GOP candidates chase Hollywood "macho men" endorsements

I found this interesting story through TPM:

John McCain says he's ready to run the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, just like Rocky Balboa did, now that he's got the support of actor Sylvester Stallone.

Stallone told Fox News' "FOX & Friends" that he's backing the Arizona senator's bid for the White House.

"I like McCain a lot. A lot," Stallone said. He called the Republican the right character for the times. "The script that's being written — and the 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."

McCain, 71, spent more than 20 years in the Navy, almost a quarter of it in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp.

Upon hearing the news Thursday, McCain responded: "I'm going to Philadelphia and run up the steps."

So Rocky is giving his presidential endorsement to John McCain. And Johnny-Boy is ready to run up the steps in Philadelphia, humming Rocky's Theme, to give Sly some hot, political loving that McCain only knows how:

I WUB YOU ROCKY!
Now let's go kick Mitten's ass on the school playground.

Now I can imagine Hollywood celebrities talking about how they endorse this candidate or that candidate, acting as if the fans will select their candidates on the basis of their endorsements. But is it my imagination, or are we starting to see a trend where the GOP presidential candidates are actively courting Hollywood macho men? We've got Sly Stallone giving his "Yo Adrian" endorsement to McCain. Walker, Texas Ranger star Chuck Norris has endorsed Mike Huckabee for president. In fact, they have even made a Huckabee political campaign commercial together. From YouTube:



And I have also found an interesting May 2, 2007 Los Angeles Times story of a political summit between Mitt Romney and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made high-profile, public appearances with U.S. Sen. John McCain and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani in recent months, praising them both. The other major Republican candidate - the one who has raised the most money in California among the GOP - received a private meeting with the governor outside the media glare yesterday.

Times staff writer Dan Morain, a Political Muscle special correspondent, headed over to the Hyatt Hotel in Sacramento for a fundraiser being held by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He reports:

"Romney, lagging in the polls but the front-runner in the money race among Republican presidential candidates, brought his fund-raising machine to Sacramento, attracting 300 donors to the downtown Hyatt Tuesday evening. They paid $1,000-$2,300 for the privilege.

"Romney and Schwarzenegger met privately for about 45 minutes before the main event. The governor has made no endorsement, but meets with candidates as they come through town - one of the points of having an early primary.

"Former California Republican Party Chair Duf Sundheim was among those who attended, but said he had not chosen sides. Consultant Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's former communications director, chatted with one of Romney's political aides, but also said he is non-aligned.

"In brief remarks to reporters before heading off to meet with donors, Romney said his talk with Schwarzenegger focused on policy, not presidential politics. Romney mentioned the need to make the U.S. energy self-sufficient and improve the environment. Noticeably affected by Sacramento's pollen-laden springtime air, Romney also noted he was having a hay fever attack."

People shouldn't discount Romney just because he's lower in the polls right now. Political donations, too, are an important indication of political strength. And Romney's conservative portfolio appears more aligned with California primary voters than those of his competitors. Does it matter which candidate Schwarzenegger likes in the presidential race? Peter Nicholas reports today: a little, but mainly to Schwarzenegger.

Mitt Romney meets with Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger in a private summit, where Romney had hoped to get the Governator's endorsement. The Governator's response? "I'll won't be back."

So in May, 2007, Romney did try to get the Governator's endorsement, but Schwarzenegger refused. Again, we have three candidates begging for Hollywood macho men endorsements. I've looked into Rudy Giuliani's campaign and, while I have found a number of Hollywood endorsements for Giuliani, no macho men have come out in support for Mr. 9/11. However, I did find this interesting YouTube video, where Giuliani prostitutes himself for a big New York money man:



All sarcastic humor aside, there is something interesting with this relationship between Hollywood macho men, and the GOP presidential candidates. All the Republican candidates support the Bush war in Iraq, even as they try to distance themselves away from the Bush war in Iraq. They all invoked Ronald Reagan's name in their first presidential debate at the Reagan Library, May 4th, 2007. Ronald Reagan was the ultimate Hollywood, and political, macho man. What I mean here isn't that Reagan played in some real tough-guy macho movies like Rambo, The Terminator, or even Invasion USA. Reagan was able to take his B-movie acting career and reinvent himself into a very successful political career that went from president of the Screen Actors Guild, to Governor of California, to ultimately the President of the United States. Ronald Reagan successfully projected a political image of a tough guy--whether he was staring down the Soviets during the Cold War, or chopping wood on his California ranch. Can you see even McCain, Romney, or even Giuliani chopping wood? Huckabee may be able to chop wood here--I mean, he was somewhat macho enough to eat fried squirrel. What I find interesting here is that these GOP candidates have a failure of projecting toughness within the political field--almost like they bluster and bluff their way through the stump speeches and the slick campaign rhetoric. So they try to channel Reagan's machismo image into their campaigns, while making campaign commercials with macho men actors and picking up endorsements with Hollywood tough guys.

Then again, I wonder just how tough and macho these GOP candidates really are?