Celebs Choose Sides in Election
November 6, 2000 -- It's no surprise that longtime Democratic supporter Susan Sarandon won't be voting for George W. Bush on Election Day.
"Hey, we lived through that guy's father," the activist-actress tells Mr. Showbiz.
Referring to the much-publicized interview that misquoted Alec Baldwin as saying he'd leave the country if Bush won, Sarandon says, "I'm not going to leave the country, but I have to tell you, if I have to vote one more time [for] the lesser of two evils — it's a depressing prospect for me."
This time around, Sarandon is not backing the Democratic nominee, Al Gore, but Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Sarandon says that although she "believes in the people of the United States," she's not looking to the White House for answers. "I think it's more important that we look toward the Congress and the Senate. I believe in the democratic process."
But don't worry about Sarandon's Democratic desertion; there are still plenty of Gore-loving celebs to go around. There are Gore's former roomie Tommy Lee Jones, The West Wing's Martin Sheen — who has something at stake in keeping a Democrat in the White House — and a slew of other celebs (including Rosie O'Donnell, "Friend of Bill" Barbra Streisand, Ben Affleck, Whoopi Goldberg, Christine Lahti, Melissa Etheridge, Jewel, and Jon Bon Jovi), some of whom turned up on the last days of the cross-country campaign trail, according to People magazine.
"I wrote 'Livin' on a Prayer' during the Reagan era [of] trickle-down economics," Bon Jovi told Gore supporters in Michigan, The Associated Press reports. "I don't want to go back." Boosting for the other side, Chuck Norris showed up at Bush rally in Fresno, Calif. — and we're pretty sure that the anti-Gore Charlton Heston isn't changing his vote at the last minute.
Presidential Sitcom From South Park CreatorsTwo guys who don't care who wins — but will be glued to the election returns anyway — are South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The rude boys of animation are prepping a new political show, which will star whoever wins the election.
Parker and Stone describe Family First as a subversive comedy series about the life of the next president. It's scheduled to debut Feb. 28 on Comedy Central, which means that they'll have to start production ASAP. There will be no cardboard cutouts this time, though — as in their wickedly funny big-screen romp Orgazmo, the South Park guys, who admit they both hate sitcoms, are using real actors. Get me casting, quick!
So, what do they think of their raw material?
"I'm interested in the way George W. Bush scrunches his face up sometimes. His face is fascinating to me," Stone told the AP. "Gore's face … He looks like a guy in drag who just got out of drag." Just the kind of hard-hitting political analysis we were looking for. Thanks, guys.