Celebrity campaiging

Two celebrities, Sean Astin and Dule Hill, spoke on campus yesterday afternoon to promote the democratic candidates for the upcoming presidential election.

Astin–known for his roles as Samwise “Sam” Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the emblematic underdog in Rudy and as one of the curious kids in The Goonies–spoke on behalf of Hillary Clinton, saying that the New York senator cares about the soldiers in Iraq and their families, providing universal healthcare and reforming FAFSA. “In order to be a leader, you have to care about the people,” Astin told a crowd of about 100 in the Browsing Lounge of Smith Memorial Student Union.

He also said that between the two democratic nominees, Senator Clinton was the only one to get a piece of bi-partisan legislature passed to aid soldiers in Iraq.

Across the hall, about 30 minutes after Astin began speaking, Hill told a slightly larger crowd why he supports Barack Obama. Hill, known for his work on the television show The West Wing and the USA-series Psych, said he believes the senator’s passion and empathy for the American people would make him the best leader for United States.

“I believe that the American people are at a crossroads,” Hill said. “They’ve found a leader in Obama.”

Following Hill, Max Kennedy, the son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, told those in the audience that the upcoming election would be studied in textbooks 40 years from now.

“You are faced with the most important election of your lifetime,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy, whose father was assassinated in 1968 while pursuing the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidency, said he sees the same kind of eloquence in Sen. Obama that he saw in his father and his uncle, John F. Kennedy.

When Kennedy’s speech ended, he prompted the audience to cheer with him. He would yell, “fired up,” to which he had them respond, “ready to go.”

Although the talks were held at nearly the same time and were no more than 100 feet apart from each other, both were different in terms of length and content.

Astin began by acknowledging the positive attributes of both the republican nominee John McCain, and Clinton’s Democratic contender Obama. He detailed different reasons that he believed Sen. Clinton would make a stronger president that both McCain and Obama, then opened the talk up for questions from people in the audience. After the meeting, Astin shook a few hands, and then left the building.

The Hill and Kennedy speeches across the hall were shorter in length and took no questions from the audience. They said little about differences among candidates or details about Sen. Obama’s platform and campaign, other than describing him as passionate and as a visionary. Both Hill and Kennedy stayed close to 30 minutes after their speeches ended, shaking hands, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.

Recent polls suggest that Obama leads Clinton with Oregon voters, 55 percent to 35 percent. The Oregon primary will be held May 20.