Obama & his celebrity base

My column at The Conservative Voice:

Barack Obama may be annoyed by the McCain campaign's ads tagging him as "the world's biggest celebrity," but that won't stop the Democrat from attending a star-spangled Beverly Hills fundraiser tonight.
Barbra Streisand will headline a $2,500-per-ticket concert at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, following a $28,500-per-plate dinner at the Greystone Mansion. Organizers of the Hollywood spectacular -- expected to raise a record $9 million for Obama -- include movie moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, Variety reports.
Meanwhile, John McCain and Sarah Palin will be campaigning this afternoon at a rally in Vienna, Ohio.
The glamour gap between the Democratic and Republican campaigns could hardly be more dramatic. In fact, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Obama has already raised more than $5 million from the TV, movie and music industries, compared to less than $900,000 that the McCain campaign has collected from show-biz types.
Obama's Hollywood totals might be even larger, if not for the fact that many in the entertainment community supported Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries. Clinton collected more than $3.6 million from the TV/movies/music sector, according to CRP. All told, show business donors have given more than $10.1 million to Democratic presidential candidates (including also-rans John Edwards and Chris Dodd), compared to less than $2 million for Republicans.
The throng of celebrities who attended the Democratic Convention in Denver -- including Danny Glover, Cyndi Lauper, Ashley Judd, Chevy Chase, Sean Penn, Eva Longorio, Ann Hathaway and Fran Drescher -- emphasized the overwhelming leftward tilt in Hollywood.
Yet the boost in McCain's poll numbers following Palin's addition to the GOP ticket seems to have set off a panic in Tinseltown.
Hollywood liberals "are passionate about the idea of Obama being president," William Morris CEO Jim Wiatt told Variety, adding that many stars are concerned that "the polls are fluctuating so much." One of those involved in tonight's fundraiser told Politico: "People are really scared that McCain is gaining. ... In my 20 years here, I have never seen folks write checks like this."
Streisand, who was among Hillary's most ardent supporters in the primary campaign, denounced McCain's selection of Palin as his running mate.
McCain "demonstrated that he is willing to put his desperation to win this election above the welfare of the American people," Streisand wrote on her blog. "This calculated, cynical ploy to pull away a small percentage of Hillary's women voters from Barack Obama will not work. We are not that stupid!" Streisand emphasized that last sentence with 19 exclamation points.
"Bourne" star Matt Damon added his own fears to the mix, telling the Associated Press in a video interview the Palin nomination is "like a bad Disney movie," and wondering "if she thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago or if she banned books or tried to ban books." That outburst prompted Andrew Breitbart to observe that Damon and his celebrity pals seem to have more fear of Alaska's Christian governor than of Islamic terrorists.
Damon's devotion to Marxist historian Howard Zinn, Breitbart said, helps explain "why a beautiful and accomplished woman from Alaska poses such a threat to Hollywood and the Democratic Party -- and why so many people in heartland America are rooting for her to win."

PREVIOUSLY:

• 9/15: Guess the GOP can write off the failed former child star vote
• 9/15: Democrats panic
• 9/12: 'I can't stand her. She can suck it.'
• 9/12: Elite rage against Palin
• 9/8: Shaking their confidence daily