I know, I know...everyone loves Michael Moore. I like the guy, but don't find him especially helpful politically. So, this is not an invitation to flame me for having a dissenting voice. Nor is it an invitation to go back and forth regarding his various pluses and minuses. But, he said something recently in Hollywood that makes an awful lot of sense and I hope the Dems are listening (at least in private). This is, however, an invitation for ideas about the idea he espouses here (echoed by Digby and one i fully embrace) and brainstorm about Dem star power. The Repug convention was packed with superstars like Rudy, McCain, Arnold, etc. Who are our future big dogs? And don't say Obama...the man just got to the Senate and needs to build a record if he is going to be the first Black preznit.
more after the jump
Choice clips from Variety article:
"When they run a rock star like Bill Clinton or a movie star like John Kennedy, they win. When they run the wonks, they lose. If I ever hear Evan Bayh ... ,"
"Who is our Arnold," he asked, and "when are we going to stop being embarrassed to ask this question?"
The Democrats, he said, must embrace Hollywood -- run to it. Dems, he griped, unlike Republicans, "don't know how to tell a story that has a beginning, a middle and an end. ... Republicans love Hollywood (and) they have the best scripts and the best sets" -- like President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch.
Moore insists America loves celebrities and actors and will vote for them whenever they have the chance -- it almost doesn't matter who (Arnold, Regan, Gopher on "Love Boat," Sony Bono, Fred Thompson) -- or, he joked, "how many naked pictures there are of them groping women."
Moore has suggested Oprah WinfreyOprah Winfrey as a candidate. He mentioned Caroline Kennedy. If not, he said, "I always ask the question, who wouldn't go for Tom Hanks? Everyone knows Tom Hanks won't set policy, just as Bush doesn't set policy.
"Don't listen to pundits saying Americans hate Hollywood. Like Hollywood opens a movie, we need to open a candidate next time around."
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