Scarlett Johansson is an attractive young woman and a popular actor; few would dispute that. She's also a passionate Barack Obama supporter. And the Obama campaign has been deploying her as a part of its get-out-the-vote effort. And why wouldn't they? Mike Huckabee is using Chuck Norris, after all, Rudy Giuliani used Jon Voight, and John McCain is using...uh...Clark Gable, I think. At any rate, using celebrities to draw attention to one's campaign is a time-tested way to bask in a bit of reflected starshine.But let's get back to Ms. Johansson. I had the opportunity to cover her event at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., on Super Tuesday. She was charming and engaging as one would expect an actor to be, and she was fully cognizant of the fact that she was trading on her star power to help her candidate. Early in the event, she said flatly that she'd "use every ounce of stardust" to sell Barack Obama. Throughout the event, Johansson was clear that she was drawn to Obama by his opposition to the war and his potential as a president. In short, she was a good advocate for Obama, and if you were looking for someone to drop in on a college campus to get supporters out to the polls, you could do a lot worse. Yes, the Obama campaign is using her well, as far as I can see.
Of course, there's another way the Obama campaign could go with Johansson; they could simply ship her around the country to provide sexual favors for Superdelegates. At least that's what a few of my fellow progressive bloggers advocate. Oh, none of them would be so crass as to come right out and say that Johansson should be, well, "pimped out." They just sort of wink and nod along with the idea.
The thought originated with Jason Zengerle on The New Republic's blog. Reacting to news that a 21-year-old Superdelegate from Wisconsin had been feted by Bill and Chelsea on behalf of Hillary, and by John Kerry on behalf of Barack, Zengerle made a suggestion:
While Hillary has Bill and Chelsea making her case to Rae, it looks like Obama has . . . John Kerry. Uh, two words of advice for the Obama people: Scarlett Johansson.Indeed! Who would want to talk to a former presidential nominee, four-term senator, and Silver Star winner anyhow? Bo-ring! No, send Scarlett Johansson out to persuade the lad...by whatever means necessary.
Matt Yglesias, proving he hasn't really learned a lot from the ice dancer kerfuffle, endorses the idea, as does Atrios, so long as he can get in on the action.
Now, if Zengerle and Yglesias and Black were all suggesting sending Johansson to talk to Superdelegates because she's a strong advocate for Obama, I'd say that's not a terrible idea, although I think it would probably distract from a role that she's already playing ably. But that, of course, is not the suggestion. No, the suggestion is that the Obama campaign should drop Scarlett Johansson off with a 21-year-old guy because she's hot. And that hotness will override all his actual thoughts about the future of the country and his duties as a delegate, and he'll vote for Obama. Right?
I'm not sure whether this is more offensive to men or to women, really. As usual, it's pretty offensive to both.
I'll not deny that Johansson makes an impression, as I'm sure a visit from, say, Orlando Bloom would. But there's a difference between having a celebrity helm a rally and having a celebrity strategically deployed to sell her candidate with, at the very least, sexuality. At the event I covered, Johansson was a good draw, but she held the audience by the very fact that she knew her stuff. She came across as any other smart, concerned 25-year-old would. It would be nice if that were the reason anyone was put forward as a good advocate for a candidate. But alas, that doesn't appear to be on the horizon anytime soon.
