Kevin Costner Screens 'Swing Vote' in D.C.

July 11, 2008 — -- Three months before millions of Americans vote in November, Hollywood imagines a presidential election that hinges on just one man's vote.

The film "Swing Vote" is Kevin Costner's latest vehicle that drives home the cliche that each and every vote counts.

Costner appeared at a special screening of the film in Washington, D.C., this week presented by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

The new political comedy hits the big screen in August.

Costner headlines the flick as Bud Johnson, an all-American, beer drinking, single dad from New Mexico who has never registered to vote, much less cast a ballot. But thanks to his ambitious daughter Molly, played by newcomer Madeline Carroll, he is thrust into the center of the presidential race.

The Hollywood actor appeared in person to introduce the film, stressing the importance of voting to the invited guests that filled D.C.'s E Street Cinema Wednesday night.

"This is our civic responsibility y'all," Costner told the audience."It's a privilege," he said of voting.

Costner said it's important for Americans to grapple with the issues head on.

He told the audience that the whole picture aimed to "take a few shots at something that burns so deeply" inside of Americans.

Among a Washington group of "opinion makers," as he referred to the crowd, he emphasized that the film was pure entertainment.

Costner sat through most of the screening but left before the end.