Celebrity backing failed to lift Clinton

One lesson from the 2016 campaign: Celebrities
guarantee attention, but they don't ensure votes.
Few presidential candidates attracted as much A-
list support as did former first lady and Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton.
But rallies in Ohio with LeBron James, Beyonce
and Jay Z did not prevent Republican rival and
President-elect Donald Trump from prevailing in a
state President Barack Obama had won twice.
A joyous election eve gathering in Philadelphia,
featuring a performance by Bruce Springsteen, did
not prevent Clinton from losing Pennsylvania,
where no Republican had won since 1988.
Meanwhile, Trump's notable guests in the days
leading up to his stunning victory included rocker
Ted Nugent, whose last top 20 album came out in
1980.
The Democratic National Convention featured
appearances by Meryl Streep, Katy Perry, Lena
Dunham and many others.
One of Trump's few celebrity endorsers at the
Republican gathering was Scott Baio of "Happy
Days" fame.
And it didn't seem to matter.
"The overwhelming majority of voters know who
they're going to vote for long before the election
and don't decide based on celebrity
endorsements," says Jon Wiener, a history
professor at the University of California, Irvine
whose books include "How We Forgot The Cold
War" and "Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon
FBI Files."
"I know it's hard to believe but there were more
powerful political forces at work in Pennsylvania
than Bruce Springsteen."
On Thursday, celebrities themselves were still
absorbing the election's results.
Actress Kyra Sedgwick, a self-described "lefty,
liberal, living in New York and California," said she
yearned to visit "Trump country" and find "what
binds us together." Singer and stage actress
Deborah Cox said she was living through "a real
sobering moment."
"It's a tough time. It's a real sobering moment, I
think, for the country," she said.
Trump, the former Apprentice star and the
candidate with the longest background in
entertainment since Ronald Reagan, apparently
only needed his own endorsement.
During the campaign he seemed to spend more
time fighting celebrities than being praised by
them. He continued his feud with Rosie O'Donnell,
had harsh words for Jay Z and defied the wishes
of the Rolling Stones, Adele and other artists by
playing their music at his campaign appearances.
But the entertainment industry's distaste for
Trump may also have contributed to his image as
an outsider shunned by the country's elite.
"I'm here all by myself," he said during a rally in
Hershey, Pennsylvania. "Just me, no guitar, no
piano, no nothing."
Wiener says that getting support from a celebrity
like Beyonce can "help create excitement - and
headlines" but is less important than inspiring
people to vote. In Cleveland's Cuyahoga County,
for instance, turnout appeared to be down
significantly from 2012, with preliminary results
showing Clinton receiving some 60,000 fewer
votes than Obama did four years earlier.
But A-listers can do little for candidates the
public isn't in the mood for electing.