Do Endorsements Matter?

This same article found that social norms—how friends and family voted—was as much greater predictor of voting trends than a celebrity’s endorsement.

So why do candidates want celebrity support in the first place? High-profile endorsements can generate media attention and help make a politician’s name a household one. Positively received name recognition—as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proven here in California—is sometimes more important than political prowess.

Perhaps most importantly, big names help raise big funds. The billionaire Warren Buffet, speaking with Clinton and Mayor Gavin Newsom in San Francisco this December, helped raise one million dollars. Oprah’s fundraising helped raise three million for Obama. Campaigns need all the funds they can get and celebrities like to brand and market themselves as much as the politicians do.

Although Hollywood may not be able to influence a voter’s choice, religious and political leaders just might.

Back to the Pew Research Center’s study, which found that state governors are able to influence 37 percent of the population’s vote, but 19 percent would vote with their governor’s choice, and 18 would vote against it. Again, null effect.

However, just like with celebrities, a politician’s support may not always function in the way in which it’s intended.  

While some governors and politicians may not strike a chord with national voters, others are easy targets for the opposing political party. I think it’s great that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom endorsed Hillary Clinton; they have a lot of overlapping policies—health insurance for all, environmental sustainability, and innovation. But on the national level, Newsom just might be an albatross around Clinton’s neck. The Republican National Committee calls him her “San Francisco Treat” and takes him to town for his support of identification cards for immigrants, saying he gives “benefits to illegal immigrants.” He is the liberal outlier—supporting gay marriage, medical marijuana, and other “whacky” things like gun control. They’re happy he supports Clinton—all the more fodder to show how she’s caters to the far left, even when she doesn’t necessarily agree with Newsom on all issues.