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Dave Larsen writes about higher education.
Kelly Mori writes about health and higher education.Home > Blogs > On Campus > Archives > 2008 > October > 30 > Entry
Ben Stiller rocks the vote at UD
Ohio can make a difference in this year’s presidential election, said Ben Stiller in an interview with the Dayton Daily News during the Rock the Vote rally on Thursday, Oct. 30, at the the University of Dayton.
Stiller, whose films include “Meet the Parents” and “Tropic Thunder,” was joined at UD by singer Sheryl Crow, hip-hop group the Beastie Boys and fellow actor Laura Dern.
“These swing states are so important,” said Stiller, a New York City native who lives in Los Angeles. “Living in a place where it isn’t a swing state, you want to come somewhere where you can actually feel like you can make a difference, and just do what you can, really, to try to get people to come out and vote.”
Stiller didn’t vote much when he was young, he admitted. “You realize if you really care about your country and what’s going on, and when you have kids in the future, you’ve got to do whatever you can,” he said.
Aboard the Rock the Vote Road Trip tour bus, Stiller said that it was exciting to see UD students so energized. “The more young people that get out and vote in this election is going to make the difference,” he said. “It’s just great to see that people are so connected and involved in the process. Maybe it just takes times like these for everybody to realize that you have to do something and be part of the solution.”
Stiller also was to appear Thursday night with Crow, the Beastie Boys and Ben Harper as part of the “Get Out and Vote 08” tour stop at Hara Arena. He planned to return home to LA on Friday, Oct. 31, to spend Halloween with his children. Stiller then hoped to rejoin the tour in Colorado, another swing state.
Rock the Vote is a non-partisan organization that registers and turns out voters age 18 to 29.
“I personally am an Obama supporter,” Stiller said. “I got in trouble because I was doing a Rock the Vote interview and I had my Obama sticker on and I didn’t realize it. I almost got tackled,” he said, laughing.
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Comments
By Uncle Carl
October 30, 2008 5:45 PM | Link to this
Non-partisan!?! Are you kidding me? Can you actually look at that cast of characters and tell me that they’re not flaming liberals? No wonder folks are abandoning the DDN.
By Intelligenta
October 30, 2008 6:16 PM | Link to this
Stiller is using his stardom to help encourage young people to vote. That is a positive message from all angles. You’re just bitter because the Dems are actually dominating.
By hugh
October 30, 2008 7:20 PM | Link to this
Well Carl, conservatives could come up with their own group to energize people into voting against their interests. I wonder how well that would go over.
By Get Real
October 30, 2008 7:59 PM | Link to this
It really irritates me when celebs use their star power to brainwash people. It would not be nice if the oil execs that everyone hates paid people to vote their way so how is this any different. I have been disgusted with Oprah Winfrey from the beginning of the campaigning season.
By jag
October 30, 2008 8:12 PM | Link to this
Get Real, what do you call the current
By jag
October 30, 2008 8:15 PM | Link to this
[Damn piece o’ crap DDN Upload Server!]Get Real, get real what do you call the current
By jag
October 30, 2008 8:16 PM | Link to this
[Damn piece o’ crap DDN Upload Server!]Get Real, get real what do you call the current
By Uncle Carl
October 30, 2008 8:58 PM | Link to this
Intelligenta/Hugh Thank you for proving my point. Just like other libs, you don’t bother to actually read anything. You just react to what you view as an attack on your beliefs. If you had actually read my comment you would see that my objection was that the DDN was trying to pass off this group of libs as “non-partisan.” Quite frankly I am not much of a McCain guy, I simply don’t appreciate your side of the equation trying to pass yourselves off as other that what you are.
By shelly
October 30, 2008 9:16 PM | Link to this
Obama scares me, something fishy about him. Too many coincidences with him and his acquaintances. Even though John McCain is not the perfect person to be President, I could never vote for Obama. He’s a good talker, but that’s just not enough.
By Linda from Florida
October 30, 2008 9:18 PM | Link to this
Wow lot of angry people on this blog…why are you angry because the young are getting out and voting??? It is their constitutional right. As far as brainwashing people…we are at a place in time where people dont need to be brainwashed..they see our economy is shambles..and McCain did help put it their with his votes in the senate…and while we are at it lets talk about brainwashing…McCain and Palin are out their trying to brainwash people with down and out lies…so come on who is brainwashing who??? Oh and just want you people of Ohio to know McCain was friendlier with this Rashid guy and gave him 450,000 for research on the West Bank…so who is trying to brainwash who???
By dead
October 30, 2008 10:09 PM | Link to this
why vote when 3800 registered but dead voters voted in the miami valley during the primaries. im sure you won’t hear that in the mainstream media though.
By who
October 30, 2008 10:23 PM | Link to this
I wonder who they voted for?
By Afghanistanimation
October 30, 2008 11:23 PM | Link to this
Personal opinion and views no ones being brainwashed they’re either afraid of a African American president and don’t want to admit it or they are sick of the current state of the Nation.
By Kay
October 30, 2008 11:28 PM | Link to this
Carl. Maybe if you bothered to read carefully you would see that the story said the group “Rock the Vote” is a non-partisan organization. It does not claim that the actors or performers are non-partisan. They are people that are free to have their own political beliefs. The organization itself simply aims to get young people registered, regardless of party lines.
By daffodilly
October 31, 2008 12:05 AM | Link to this
Most young people are so easily infuenced by their favorite singer / rock star. I know Rock the Vote is non-partisan but the participating “stars” are clearly Obama supporters and by doing this are influencing these young people to vote Obama just by using their celebrity, which is not something to base a presidential vote on. “Well, Sheryl Crow is voting Obama and I like her, sooooo” This is CRAP and exploitation!
By PeaceMOM62
October 31, 2008 6:49 AM | Link to this
Does this matter? NOPE ! only to the rock stars that pad their pockets and the folks dumb enough to buy a ticket !! McCAIN/PALIN 08 !!!!
By Flying Sheep
October 31, 2008 8:06 AM | Link to this
Were any of you there? It was a great performance and truly was bi-partisan. Good to see someone encouraging the process and not their agenda!
By Glus
October 31, 2008 8:16 AM | Link to this
I say shut up and sing. I have no interest in entertainers and Hollywood’s political views.
By ZPHIL
October 31, 2008 8:25 AM | Link to this
I was at the Hara concert last night and did not see one person wearing an Obama tshirt, or one person wearing a McCain tshirt.
By Arthur
October 31, 2008 9:01 AM | Link to this
In response to “Dead,” the story said 3,800 dead people are on the voter registration rolls in the area, not that 3,800 dead people have voted. The same story says 22 people who are dead were listed as voting in the primary this year. That 22 is the number you should be concerned about.
By Mike
October 31, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this
Test
By Boo
October 31, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this
A socialist America where liberty is attacked through the courts, success is punished, and social classes are pitted against one another. Obama and the liberals in congress and in the courts. THAT is a scary Halloween story. Too bad McCain and Palin will crush him!
By Mike
October 31, 2008 9:20 AM | Link to this
Several people here seem to think it’s wrong for celebrities to voice their candidate preference. Why? They are just exercising their right to voice their opinion. You don’t have to listen to them. If you’re afraid that they might “brainwash” your child, maybe it’s because television plays a bigger role in your child’s life than you, the parent, do.
By Hollywood sucks
October 31, 2008 9:21 AM | Link to this
Add Ben stiller to the list (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Will Smith… basically everyone except Clint Eastwood and Kelsey Grammer) whose movies I will be pirating off the internet or watching at the dollar movie theater :) Why do we give these airheads our hard earned money?
By Joanie
October 31, 2008 9:52 AM | Link to this
Encouraging people to vote? Those Damn Liberals!
By Buckeye
October 31, 2008 11:09 AM | Link to this
Linda from Florida Blog your own papers
By Concerned
October 31, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this
If Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Ben Stiller, Oprah Winfrey and every other liberal in the world want to use their fame to promote a candidate or draw attention to a social issue, that’s their business. My concern is that any of the rest of us care what they think. Since when does starring in movies or hosting a talk show make a person more qualified to comment on social issues than anyone else? Who cares who Matt Damon supports? The bigger problem in this country is that so many people do base voting decisions on such irrelevant things. Do some research, study the candidates’ Congressional voting records and history of behavior, and make your own decision. We are becoming such a nation of sheep, and it’s all about to come back to bite us in the hindparts.
By jpills
October 31, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this
These celebrities mostly are tooting their own horn and fame. They will be back in Hollywood, while we in Ohio will be here to face reality. Vote your conscience of who can be the most trusted leader of America in these perilous times. I think the answer will be clear on Voting Day.
By Erik
October 31, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this
People who are interested in voting shouldn’t need some big, star-filled concert to get them into the voting booth. If they can’t get off their butt and make their voice heard, then they shouldn’t bother voting at all. Don’t waste my informed vote with your uninformed vote.
By Glus
October 31, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
why?
By Freedomlover
October 31, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this
I wonder if any of these Rockers have had a chance to see this Obama film? www.obamamustsee.com
By Jerry
October 31, 2008 1:35 PM | Link to this
I too hate it that celebrities use their star power to influence people to vote for the dems. The real problem lies within the minds of people that actually allow themselves to be influenced so easily. Think for yourselves people! They should make people pass a test on the 2 candidates before they’re allowed to vote, because so many of the voters for Obama have no clue what he is really about, they just simply want a change, or they’re voting for him becausehe sounds good, or simply because he’s black. Voting for him simply for “change”, without knowing what he’s really about, is like leaving your current spouse to marry someone else that youve only been around in public. This guy is not what he seems.
By millionsofpeople
October 31, 2008 1:53 PM | Link to this
Obama makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and gives me a tingly feeling running up my leg. I shall vote for him no matter what. I will be happy…and controlled.
By Chauncey Gardiner
October 31, 2008 2:00 PM | Link to this
As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.
By daffodilly
October 31, 2008 2:12 PM | Link to this
Ha! Ha! Chauncey Gardiner - good one. So true….
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