Yesterday on GMA, when asked if she had a candidate, Cher said that voting for Hillary is "a no brainer." She then told the story of how she dined at the White House the first week of Jimmy Carter's presidency, says "here was a man who was a saint" who had all these great ideas, and how they cut him off at the knees because of his inexperience. Say what you will, but as we all know Cher has been around FOREVER! and she knows what she's talking about!
Seriously, though, there is a reason why women over 60 support Hillary in droves: because they are hands down the most progressive and most loyal voting bloc there is. That is a fact. I love how for Cher its just not even a question worth a second thought!
This is so much bigger than Oprah, if you ask me.
You may remember Cher called into C-Span in May 2006 to decry Bush over lack of proper bodyarmor, and she's spent the last three years visiting American soldiers at US army hospitals around the world. She's donated hundreds of thousands to get soldiers the armor they need. She's been a major activist the last few years.
In other news, David Brooks, who I hate, wrote his best column to date about the "retail politics" of the democratic primary.
Links to Cher video, Brooks article with analysis, AND Cher's May 2006 C-SPAN call.
First, here is the video of Cher. Its's 6:44 and the Hillary endrosement comes around 5:29!
Its striking that some of the great iconic actresses of the last forty-years - Cher, Streisand - immensely rich and successful are supoprting Hillary over Barack - and I don't think its just because they are women over 60! - its also because they come from working class backgrounds. Which leads me to David Brooks pretty amazng column today, and I can't believe I just wrote that because I usualy want to tear up my newspaper when I read him.
Brooks is a cynical conservative who only a few weeks ago had seen the light and was feeling the Obamalove, but has apparently managed to regain his head and now makes a congent analysis of Hillary's and Barack's different demographics. Here is the Op-Ed: Questions for Dr. Retail.
According to Brooks, there are "commodity providers" and "experience providers:"
Listen, the essential competition in many consumer sectors is between commodity providers and experience providers, the companies that just deliver product and the companies that deliver a sensation, too. There’s Safeway, and then there is Whole Foods. There’s the PC, and then there’s the Mac. There are Holiday Inns, and there are W Hotels. There’s Walgreens, and there’s The Body Shop.
Hillary, obvioulsy, is the "commodity provider:"
Hillary Clinton is a classic commodity provider. She caters to the less-educated, less-pretentious consumer. As Ron Brownstein of The National Journal pointed out on Wednesday, she won the non-college-educated voters by 22 points in California, 32 points in Massachusetts and 54 points in Arkansas. She offers voters no frills, just commodities: tax credits, federal subsidies and scholarships. She’s got good programs at good prices.
Barack, obviously, is the "experience provider:"
Barack Obama is an experience provider. He attracts the educated consumer. In the last Pew Research national survey, he led among people with college degrees by 22 points. Educated people get all emotional when they shop and vote. They want an uplifting experience so they can persuade themselves that they’re not engaging in a grubby self-interested transaction. They fall for all that zero-carbon footprint, locally grown, community-enhancing Third Place hype. They want cultural signifiers that enrich their lives with meaning.
He really hit the nail on the head here. Barack has said he is offering himself up as a symbol, he is offering us symbolic change, quasi-cultural change, and many of the people voting for him see him primarily as a "cultural signifier" that makes them feel good about themselves. And Barack totally feeds that when he talks about you, you, you in his speechs. Its the ultimate "me generation" appeal: "this is about you" he says, and they lick it up. Its the ultiamte politics as Whole Foods experinece!
And the truth is - and Brooks gets this right - Barack really only makes sense if you already have "a basic level of security in your life." And he totally hits the nail on the head when he points to the kinds of celebrity supporting Barack with their "escalating states of righteousness and ecstasy" - compare that to Cher's no-nonsense endorsement of Hillary: "for me its a no brainer!"
Then did you see the Hopemeister’s speech? His schtick makes sense if you’ve got a basic level of security in your life, if you’re looking up, not down. Meanwhile, Obama’s people are so taken with their messiah that soon they’ll be selling flowers at airports and arranging mass weddings. There’s a “Yes We Can” video floating around YouTube in which a bunch of celebrities like Scarlett Johansson and the guy from the Black Eyed Peas are singing the words to an Obama speech in escalating states of righteousness and ecstasy. If that video doesn’t creep out normal working-class voters, then nothing will.
But this is the best part:
Obama offers to defeat cynicism with hope. Apparently he’s going to turn politics into a form of sharing. Have you noticed that he’s actually carried into his rallies by a flock of cherubs while the heavens open up with the Hallelujah Chorus? I wonder how he does that.
And, finally, this cinches it:
QUESTION: So who’s going to win?
DR. RETAIL: Observe the marketplace. The next states on the primary calendar have tons of college-educated Obamaphile voters. Maryland is 5th among the 50 states, Virginia is 6th. But later on, we get the Hillary-friendly states. Ohio is 40th in college education. Pennsylvania is 32nd.
But it’ll still be tied after all that. The superdelegates will pick the nominee — the party honchos, the deal-makers, the donors, the machine. Swinging those people takes a level of cynicism even Dr. Retail can’t pretend to understand. That’s Tammany Hall. That’s the court at Versailles under Louis XIV.
Obama's hope is, perhaps, the most cynical message there is in politics! Politics is partisan, always have been, always will be.
And Cher knows that's why we need the fighter in Hillary!
AND here is the transcript of her call into C-SPAN, May 28, 2006:
C-SPAN'S "WASHINGTON JOURNAL"
Call from Cher on C-SPAN Sunday, May 28 at approx. 7:20 a.m. ET
CHER: HELLO?
Host: GOOD MORNING.
CHER: NO, THIS IS MALIBU, CALIFORNIA.
Host: GO AHEAD.
CHER: HI, I HAVE CALLED YOU BEFORE, AND I'M GOING TO TRY TO BE REALLY CALM WHILE I'M TALKING ABOUT THIS, BUT I HAVE TO SAY, THIS REGIME IS -- I'VE BEEN ALIVE FOR 11 PRESIDENTS. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN MY LIFE. I BELONG TO AN ORGANIZATION CALLED OPERATION HELMET. AND THESE PEOPLE. THE SO-CALLED CHRISTIAN REPUBLICANS HAVE SENT THE MEN AND WOMEN OF OUR ARMED FORCES INTO BATTLE WITHOUT THE PROPER HELMETS. THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE THE KEVLAR INSERTS. I WOULD LIKE TO READ SOMETHING, IF YOU WOULD LET ME, FROM ONE OF THE SOLDIERS, HE SAID: "HI, MY NAME IS CORPORAL __, I AM IN THE U.S. MARINES THIRD BATTALION, 4th MARINES WEAPONS COMPANY. THANK YOU FOR THIS ENDEAVOR IT'S TRULY GREAT WHAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING. I HAVE BEEN IN IRAQ TWICE, WE ARE SLATED TO GO BACK, ALMOST ALL OF OUR SENIOR GUYS ARE GETTING OUT. WE HAVE AROUND 80% NEW GUYS IN DEPLOYMENT. WE DO NOT HAVE -- WE DON'T HAVE THE ARMOR FOR OUR HMVs. WE ALSO HAVE HAD TO USE OLD HELMETS, AND WE WOULD TRULY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU COULD DONATE THIS TO OUR CAUSE BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY MEN WHO ARE GETTING -- THERE ARE SO MANY MEN WHO ARE HAVING HEAD WOUNDS. AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU COULD PLEASE HELP US BUY THESE INSERTS." SO I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THIS GOVERNMENT CAN SEND MEN INTO WAR WITHOUT THE PROPER HELMETS, WITHOUT THE PROPER ARMOR FOR THEIR HUMVEES.
AND I HAVE PERSONALLY HELPED THIS DR. MEADER WITH HIS OPERATION HELMET, GATHER $116,000 SO THAT WE COULD PUBLICLY DO WHAT THE ARMY IS NOT DOING. I AM SORRY I'M EMOTIONAL ABOUT THIS, I AM SO PISSED OFF AT THESE PEOPLE. I HAVE FINALLY JUST HAD ENOUGH OF THEM.
HOST: HOW DID THIS GET UNDERWAY?
CHER: DR. MEADE HAD A GRANDSON AND HE WAS SAYING THEY WERE REALLY NERVOUS BECAUSE THEY WERE HAVING TO USE USED HELMETS AND HAD NO KEVLAR INSERTS, AND THE ARMY WAS SAYING THEY HAD RUN OUT OF MONEY FOR THIS PARTICULAR THING. THE WORST WOUNDS ARE HEAD WOUNDS AND AMPUTATIONS. SO I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW OUR GOVERNMENT... I MEAN, THIS PRESIDENT WHO CLAIMS TO BE A CHRISTIAN, HOW CAN A CHRISTIAN SEND PEOPLE INTO HARM'S WAY AND NOT MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE PROPERLY TAKEN CARE OF? SO, YOU KNOW, IF HE BELIEVES IN HELL, I WOULD BE REALLY NERVOUS IF I WAS HIM.
HOST: THE WEBSITE IS OPERATION- HYPHEN-HELMET.ORG AND YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN THIS?
CHER: I AM ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT DONATED TO IT.
HOST: IS THIS CHER?
CHER: YEAH.
HOST: THANK YOU FOR CALLING THIS IS THE SECOND TIME YOU PHONED?
CHER: YEAH, I KNOW THAT I AM AN ENTERTAINER AND FROM HOLLYWOOD AND SHOULDN'T HAVE A CONSCIENCE BUT I AM AN AMERICAN AND I CANNOT BEAR THESE PEOPLE FOR ANOTHER MOMENT.
HOST: DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE MORE OF YOU AND OTHERS SPEAKING OUT ON THE WAR?
CHER: ACTUALLY I HAVE TO GO WITH DR. MEADERS TO GO TO CONGRESS. HE HAS TO GO AND MEET THEM, BECAUSE SOMEHOW THE ARMY SEEMS TO THINK THAT HE IS CREATING A BREACH BETWEEN SOLDIERS AND THE ARMY AND NOT LETTING THEM HAVE CONFIDENCE, YOU KNOW, IN THE ARMY, SO HE'S HAVING TO MEET WITH PEOPLE OF THE PENTAGON FOR SOME OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AND HE'S QUITE NERVOUS, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE HE'S JUST DONE ALL OF THIS BY HIMSELF. HE'S JUST A GRANDFATHER.
HOST: WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO BE IN WASHINGTON?
CHER: I THINK IT'S THE 14th BECAUSE HE'S SO NERVOUS ABOUT GOING THERE, HE'S AFRAID OF WHAT THEY WILL DO WITH HIM AND ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS IS LOU DOBBS SO I CALLED LOU TO GET THIS PREPARATION BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE AND I AM JUST GOING TO BE WITH HIM. SO, LOOK, HE'S JUST A GREAT MAN TRYING TO DO SOMETHING FOR HIS GRANDSON, AND HIS GRANDSON SAID, LOOK, I CAN'T TAKE THE HELMET INSERTS, UNLESS YOU CAN GET IT FOR ALL OF THE REST OF MY BROTHERS.
Host: HOW MUCH DO THESE INSERTS COST?
CHER: I THINK IT'S $79 AND $99, TWO DIFFERENT PRICES FOR THE DIFFERENT SIZE HELMETS.
HOST: WELL, WHEN YOU ARE HERE ON JUNE 14th, WHY DON'T YOU STOP ON BY AND TAKE SOME CALLS AND COME ON THE WASHINGTON JOURNAL.
CHER: OKAY, HE'S A VERY WONDERFUL MAN.
HOST: CHER, THANK YOU FOR CALLING BACK, WE APPRECIATE IT. KEEP WATCHING.