Idealogian

Celebrity Stumping

ABC News reports on the Palestinian "get out the vote" campaign:

Well known for his vocal support of Tibet's Dalai Lama and celebrated for his captivating good looks, [Richard] Gere urged Palestinians in a television commercial broadcast ahead of Sunday's poll in the West Bank and Gaza to get out to vote for a new president to succeed Yasser Arafat, who died in November.

"Hi, I'm Richard Gere and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time. It's really important. Get out and vote," Gere said in the advertisement. He repeated the final phrase in Arabic.

There's only one problem:

Many Palestinian voters, already struggling with the labyrinthine politics of the West Bank and Gaza, say they have never heard of Richard Gere.

. . .

"I don't even know who the candidates are other than Mahmoud Abbas, let alone this Gere," Gaza soap factory worker Manar An Najar told Reuters.

One wonders if the Palestinians wouldn't respond better to another popular celebrity voting campaign - P. Diddy's "Vote or Die!"