Ron Paul: Can Kelly Clarkson and Chuck Norris help Paul win in Iowa?
Ron Paul has celebrity endorsements from singer Kelly Clarkson, actors Vince Vaughn and Chuck Norris. Is it enough to win the Iowa caucus?
Singer Kelly Clarkson has endorsed GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul. Shown here, the American Idol winner performs at the Z100's Jingle Ball concert at Madison Square Garden in New York last month.
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Washington
As Iowans will soon start casting ballots tonight, we figured we’d turn our attention to Republican candidates … and the B-list celebrities who love them.
Of course, when it comes to celebrity endorsements, the vast majority of Hollywood types - and most of the biggest stars - tend to go for Democrats.
But among the relatively tiny cadre of music and movie celebs backing Republicans, Ron Paul seems to have the most support. In Iowa today, Paul was plugging his recent endorsement from former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson - though, ironically, he did it by asking the crowd: “Does anyone know the name Kelly Clarkson?”
(Note: It’s not actually clear who’s the bigger beneficiary here: According to news reports, Clarkson saw her record sales spike after she announced she was supporting Paul.)
Turns out, Clarkson’s not the only (semi) famous Paulista out there. According to a tally by The Hill, Paul also counts actor Vince Vaughn among his supporters. And action star Chuck Norris - who famously endorsed Mike Huckabee in the 2008 cycle, making for one of the season’s best political ads - is supporting Paul this time around. Paul also appears to count singer Michelle Branch and rapper Prodigy among his backers.
Coming in a close second, Rick Perry touts the support of Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, actor Dean Cain, and actor Stephen Baldwin. Perry is also friends with actor Russell Crowe (though Crowe apparently hasn’t officially endorsed him).
As for the rest of the field … well, see for yourselves: Mitt Romney’s got former supermodel Cindy Crawford’s approval, along with singer Pat Boone, and the Osmonds. Michele Bachmann’s got singer Wayne Newton. Actor Gary Busey endorsed Newt Gingrich - but then rescinded his endorsement.
Perhaps most influential, in fact, may be the nod Rick Santorum recently received from TLC reality stars (“19 Kids and Counting”) the Duggars. Saying they support his evangelical pro-family beliefs, members of the Duggar family showed up at several Santorum events in Iowa this week and reportedly recorded robocalls on his behalf.
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