Obama Celebrity Surrogates: Campaign 'Wish List' Includes Clooney, Jay-Z, will.i.am, Alba & More
President Obama is looking to add a whole lot of star power to his re-election campaign.
Obama was joined on the campaign trail and supported by a huge stock of Hollywood stars four years ago, and his campaign staff last month put together a sprawling list of notable names that they'd like to see serve as surrogates and activists for the President as he looks to stave off the eventual Republican nominee. The Tennessean obtained the list, which was dated December 5th, and published it on Thursday.
Amongst the 190 names on the list are a number of stars that were very vocal supporters last cycle: will.i.am, Jay-Z, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, Eva Longoria, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Olivia Wilde.
Not all of those on the wish list plan on helping out, though; country band Lady Antebellum's publicist said that she was surprised to see the group on the list, and that "the band has never commented on their political affiliations nor do they plan to in the future."
Absent from the list is Matt Damon, who campaigned for Obama in 2008 but has become a vocal critic of his educational and Wall Street policies. The President has received less in donations from Democrats in Hollywood at this point in this campaign than he did during the last one, and his team has assigned an ambassador to help raise support and plan fundraisers for the President in Los Angeles later this year.
At one point, it was speculated that the President wanted to avoid being seen publicly with stars, though clearly that is no longer the case. On Wednesday, he even greeted Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the White House.
For more, click over to The Tennessean.
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First Posted: 01/13/12 02:08 PM ET Updated: 01/13/12 03:57 PM ET