Anyone with a shred of common sense can tell you that celebrity endorsements have about as much influence on elections as the rantings of your average nobody blogger (yours truly included), which is to say, very little effect at all. In fact, you could probably argue that celebrity endorsements are actually counterproductive, since conservatives tend to react to the opinions of Hollywood personalities like bulls react to red blankets flapping in the breeze, and as a result the endorsement sometimes backfires and ends up becoming a cudgel that’s used against the endorsed. That’s one reason why I tend, as I usually do, to avoid the whole subject of who endorses what and any possible confrontations that may arise from talking about it.

However, sentimental slob that I am, I can’t resist passing along this odd little clip, in which director Ron Howard reprises his most famous acting roles with his old buddies Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler in the name of getting out the word about their preferred candidate. The video is kind of lame and kind of embarrassing, but it’s obviously heartfelt, and, well, it’s just nice to see these beloved characters again, even if they’re in the service of a partisan statement. Given Andy’s advancing age, it may well be the last time we see them:

One little sidethought: Have you ever considered how truly extraordinary Ron Howard’s career has been? A child actor from the age of five or six, he breathed life into two iconic characters in two hugely successful television series — Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show and Richie Cunningham in Happy Days — not to mention playing a significant role in George Lucas’ American Graffiti, then went on as an adult to direct a string of money-making films. Truly an amazing record. Ron’s directorial work has its detractors, but you can’t deny how exceptional it is for a former child actor to still be in the business at all, let alone making movies that the public likes…

For the record, I took advantage of my state’s early-voting program and registered my political choices yesterday. If you have that option where you are, I highly recommend taking it. It’s nice to have it out of the way.

That said, I wonder how many people really get how remarkable and important this election season is. A few people do, at least:

For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old woman left the voting booth she made it about halfway to the door before collapsing in a nearby chair, where she began weeping uncontrollably. When we rushed over to help we realized that she wasn’t in trouble at all but she had not truly believed, until she left the booth, that she would ever live long enough to cast a vote for an African-American for president.

It was only two generations ago — if we define a generation as 25 years, more or less — that black people weren’t allowed to use the same drinking fountains as whites. Viewed in this context, it doesn’t really matter who wins the presidency (although I certainly have my preference). We’ve still taken a big step forward. And for that, I am proud of my nation. At risk of pissing off my conservative readers, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt able to say that…

(Via.)

I don’t have much to say about last night’s presidential debate — I watched only a part of it and I choose to keep my admittedly partisan impressions to myself — but I’ve got to share this amusing photo that’s been floating around the politiblogs today:

Now, I’m perfectly willing to give McCain the benefit of the doubt and chalk this up to one of those unfortunate moments when the shutter just happens to open at exactly the worst possible instant — the blog I pulled this from suggests he was about to walk off the edge of the stage or something — but doesn’t he look like he’s doing that childish pretend-you’re-a-monster-behind-the-other-guy’s-back thing? You know, when you’re teasing someone by acting like Frankenstein or whatever?

I’ll bet when Obama turned around, McCain was standing upright and looking perfectly normal and dignified. Just like that kid in the fourth grade always did when I looked at him, even though I knew he was up to something back there…