Inside The "New" Hollywood Left: Who Made The List?

Think "Hollywood politics," and you likely conjure up images of George Clooney speaking out about Darfur or Brad Pitt's blueprint to provide housing for the New Orleans needy. Dozens of actors are known for their outspoken beliefs off screen as much as for their on-screen performances: Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Barbra Streisand to name just a few.

But there's another group of mostly unknown showbiz executives in Los Angeles working behind the scenes in left-leaning politics: hosting Democratic Party fundraisers, sponsoring anti-war rallies, organizing abortion rights events, backing environmental legislation or producing message movies that promote peace, love and understanding.

The old guard -- including such well-known figures as Norman Lear, 85; David Geffen, 65; Rob Reiner, 61; Stanley Sheinbaum, 81; and Mike Medavoy, 67 -- is still going strong, among them 1960s-era activists, billionaire donors and sturdy intellectuals who influence Democratic politics at all levels. (Media-savvy Geffen's early support for Barack Obama -- and his public branding of his former allies, the Clintons, as "liars" to The New York Times' Maureen Dowd in February 2007 -- revealed one of the first chinks in candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's sturdy Hollywood armor.)

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[larry278]

The figures which the POLITICO dismisses as being overexposed, such as Ms Huffington, will laugh on their way to the bank, if they even bother to notice the POLITICO's opinion of them. Powerful people concentrate on other things such as implementing a solution for a problem, in Ms Huffington's case boosting HP's circulation, supporting a cause they favor, etc. Snarky people call people who are concerned with popularty ranking & pecking orders pecker checkers.
l lynch

[adamsmith]

Hollywood has always been irrelevent....It's an imaginary world of people who get paid insane money and feel guilty about the little people, yeah, the ones without teeth and driving pick-ups, and how they know better than the toothless how to live their lives. Progressivism is dead. Long live the individual...Nobody ever claimed Clooney or Pitt were genius anyway.........

[Erdgeist]

Yeah, you can't really trust them pinko Hollywood types. My kind of American drives a pickup truck, drinks American beer, likes meat-loaf sandwiches, owns a lot of guns, shops at Wal-Mart and is a proud bigot who waves a made in China America flag ad nauseam. On a serious note, the narrow mindedness of the rustics is frightening. I would trust any Hollywood type to do what is right for America before I would trust some guy missing a few teeth who waves the Stars & Bars.

[wayoutleft]

unbelievable comments follow the original piece in politico: anti-semitic... thank you hollywood for passing your liberal traditions to the next generation of successful industry people. it's so funny how criticism of "elites" itself reveals such snobbery and spite. thank god for jewish liberal egalitarianism- conversely, thank jewish liberal egalitarianism for god. now that everybody's pandering to hicks, it's an absolute lifeline of reassurance that my adopted town's professionals carry their convictions forward so strongly. please ariana and friends- understand that in every corner of this country- everywhere- you have tons of support and great respect. maybe superior people can't always have the president they would like. but that's understood and it just takes a little edge to put one in place who can make up for the backward boobs like bush in favor with the ignorant radio howlers and their legions.

[westview]

Does anyone care anymore about who celebrities vote for? I lump them in with the MSM as not worth attention.

[dax49]

this whole article went on forever and never lived up to the headline- did any of these blog writers go to journalism school?

[granamica]

Where's Kumar? At white castle dreaming of the white house for Obama?