Poll: In a Presidential race, what actor would get your vote?
If the next U.S. Presidential ballot included only actors, which of these politically active stars would get your vote? (Instead of voting for your favorite actor, vote for whom you would like to see as President if given no other choices.) Choose from the following eight, listed in alphabetical order. Discuss here: http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000088/thread/230304295/
Vote:
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Ben Affleck
Affleck founded the Eastern Congo Initiative and recently testified in Congress about the violence in the African region. He and Matt Damon campaigned for Elizabeth Warren’s successful Senate campaign in their home state of Massachusetts, and he has also volunteered for candidates such as Al Gore and Barack Obama. Although he has done fundraising for such campaigns, he is now an outspoken opponent of the increasing role of money in politics. His interest in politics inspired him to direct the Oscar winning Argo. -
Don Cheadle
Cheadle became an activist to raise awareness of the genocide in Darfur. In 2005, he traveled to Sudan with five members of Congress to see refugee camps and to meet survivors of the genocide, which he then reported on for ABC News Nightline. Sharing the Summit Peace Award by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates with George Clooney for their work in Darfur, Cheadle is co-founder of the non-profit Not on Our Watch, an international advocacy group that funds emergency humanitarian efforts and works to convince governments “to take meaningful, immediate action to protect the vulnerable, marginalized, and displaced.” -
George Clooney
Clooney has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since 2008, has been an advocate for the victims of the Darfur conflict, and organized the Hope for Haiti telethon to raise money for the victims of the 2010 earthquake. In 2006, he traveled to China and Egypt to encourage Chinese and Egyptian officials to use their ties with the Sudanese government to help stop the violence in Darfur, and he also addressed the United Nations Security Council about the conflict. A dedicated Democrat, he worked with former Presidents Bush and Clinton to promote and fund the rebuilding of a hospital in hurricane-devastated Louisiana. -
Clint Eastwood
The only Republican on the list, Eastwood has been active in politics since the 60′s when he supported presidential candidate Richard Nixon. Although he is a self-proclaimed “Eisenhower Republican,” he continues to be active in today’s more conservative party and famously spoke for 12-minutes at the 2012 Republican National Convention when he talked to an empty chair that represented President Obama. Eastwood served as Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, from 1986-1988. -
Kal Penn
Kal Penn has served as the associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement in the Obama administration. In 2008, he campaigned for then-Senator Obama in 26 states. The Harold & Kumar star was also selected as the national co-chair for the 2012 Obama re-election campaign and spoke at the Democratic National Convention. -
Sean Penn
Passionate about his liberal principles, Sean Penn famously paid over $50,000 to place an ad in the Washington Post criticizing the Bush administration for its “deconstruction of civil liberties.” Penn personally helped in the rescue process after Hurricane Katrina by evacuating stranded residents with his own boat. In 2012 he co-founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organization after an earthquake struck Haiti, spends much of his time there, and was named Ambassador-at-Large by the President of Haiti. -
Tim Robbins
A longtime Green Party member, Robbins was often criticized for voting for Ralph Nader in the controversial 2000 election. He wrote an essay about his choice in the progressive monthly The Nation. As co-presenters of the Academy Awards in 1993, he and his former partner, Susan Sarandon, brought public attention to the plight of a few hundred Haitians with AIDS who had been interned in Guantánamo Bay. Robbins has also attended anti-war rallies and spoken at pro-union rallies. Despite his liberal values, Robbins has reportedly donated significant amounts of money to Republican, as well as Democratic and Green Party, candidates for public office. -
Susan Sarandon
Sarandon, a proud Democrat, donated to and volunteered for the campaigns of Barack Obama, John Edwards, and John Kerry. She worked for the campaign to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and has publicly supported the Occupy Wall Street movement. Sarandon has been named as the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and received the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award in 2006.