Political Candidates Turn Sights on California's Entertainme

 

Mike O'Sullivan

In this U.S. election year, politicians are turning to the entertainment business for support and contributions.
Hollywood is, above all, a source of campaign funds for politicians, who need large amounts of cash to buy television ads to reach the voters. Many here can afford to give at the $2,000 limit to individual candidates, and some can afford larger contributions to the political parties.
In addition, the state of California's political influence cannot be underestimated. It has the largest population in the U.S. and 55 electoral votes won for presidential election.
The expected Democratic nominee², John Kerry, will hold a fundraising dinner in Los Angeles, at $2,000 a plate, March 30. Many Hollywood personalities³ plan to be there. President Bush recently raised $800,000 dollars at a Los Angeles dinner, which included some Hollywood donors⁴.
Peter Kiefer covers politics for the Hollywood Reporter, an entertainment industry publication. He says the industry has many high-profile Democrats⁵, including some studio moguls.
"Behind the scenes, there are the executives at DreamWorks, Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, and Steven Spielberg are stalwart Democrat¹ supporters, many of whom were close to Clinton during his two terms," he said.
Other prominent Hollywood Democrats are producer Steven Bing, and Haim Saban, the Egyptian-born investor⁶ who made his fortune in children's entertainment.
On the creative side, actor Martin Sheen, actor-director Rob Reiner and singer Barbra Streisand are outspoken⁷ Democrats.
Donna Bojarsky is a Democratic consultant⁸ who works with a number of Hollywood stars, including Richard Dreyfuss. She says their financial support is important to candidates.
"And also their visibility," she added. "People in this country are interested in what people of note and people of celebrity⁹ have to say. And it can bring excitement and dynamism and good entertainment at events and at rallies.
"They can really can roil¹⁰ a crowd," continued Ms. Bojarsky. "So there are a number of ways they participate, and I suspected, as they've done in previous campaigns, they'll certainly do that in this one."
Many in Hollywood are Democrats, but some are some Republicans, including Jerrold Perenchio, the head of the Spanish-language television network Univision.
The Hollywood Reporter's Peter Kiefer says some heads of Hollywood studios also help Republicans.
"It's just seen that Republicans tend to be more business-friendly," said Mr. Kiefer. "So regardless of a CEO's political leanings, it may be in his best interest for the good of his company to support the Republicans on some sort of a business policy issue."
Republican strategist Allan Hoffenblum says Hollywood Democrats are outspoken and visible, but they are not the whole Hollywood story.
"You'll hear about Richard Dreyfuss," he said. "You hear about Barbra Streisand and a whole group that tend to have a very liberal outlook. But what's interesting here in California, there have been three Hollywood celebrities¹¹ or Hollywood movie stars who have held high position in California politics."
All three were Republicans. First, George Murphy, an actor and dancer from the 1940s and 1950s, became a U.S. senator in 1964.
"Then up until recently, the most famous was Ronald Reagan, who twice became governor of California and was twice elected president of the United States," reminded Mr. Hoffenblum. "And since last October, Arnold Schwarzenegger."
The Republican action star became California governor late last year.
The only Hollywood Democrat to hold major political office was Helen Gahagan Douglas, a former actress who served three terms in the U.S. congress. She lost a Senate race to California congressman¹² Richard Nixon in 1950.
This year, John Kerry is the presumed Democratic nominee, and Donna Bojarsky says Hollywood Democrats are ready to help him.
"When the nominee comes here, I think he'll be welcomed with open arms and people will be very anxious in this community to defeat George Bush," she said. "So I think they will give their money, time, resources, and ideas to try to do that."
Aides to Arnold Schwarzenegger say the California governor plans to campaign for President Bush, adding some Hollywood glitter to the Republican side of the race.

注释：
underestimate [5QndEr5estimeit] vt. 低估
electoral [i5lektEr(E)l] adj. 选举人的
fundraising [5fQnd7reziN] adj. 筹款的
studio [5stju:diEu] n. 演播室
mogul [5mEu^l] n. 显要人物
stalwart [5stC:lwEt] adj. 坚定的
consultant [kEn5sQltEnt] n. 顾问
dynamism [5dainEmizEm] n. 活力，推动力
rally [5rAli] n. 集会，大会
strategist [5strAtidVist] n. 战略家
glitter [5^litE] n. 迷人的力量，魅力

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

4 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

7 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

8 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

9 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

10 roil   

v.搅浑，激怒

参考例句：

• Times of national turmoil generally roil a country's financial markets.在国家动荡不安的时代，该国的金融市场一般都会出现混乱。
• Some of her habits are off-putting but don't let them roil you.她的一些习惯让人恶心，但最好别烦你。

11 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

12 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。