George Clooney's Hollywood Pragmatism

I think Andrew Sullivan's pithy comment here is a bit harsh towards George Clooney. I'm generally no fan of Hollywood liberalism (see here for my thoughts on Sean Penn), but I actually think Clooney is a smart enough guy to share my concerns, rather than increase them. If you read the article Sullivan links to, note the following bit:

But Clooney is too shrewd a political observer to discount the negative effect celebrity can have on a campaign, especially in a red state. (Look what happened last year when industry favorite Rep. Harold Ford Jr. ran for the Senate in 2006. The Tennessee Democrat's foes called him "Fancy Ford" and portrayed him as a habitué of Hollywood's decadent soirees. It might have been what cost him the election in a close race.)

At the moment Clooney is playing it close to the vest, waiting to see if he can play a part without become a distracting sideshow. His quandary is a measure of Hollywood's growing political sophistication; celebs are beginning to understand that their support can be a double-edged sword.

Clooney points to a deeply personal example of Hollywood backlash: His father, former television anchorman and game show host Nick Clooney, lost his congressional race in Kentucky in 2004 after his opponent blasted him for having "Hollywood values."

"It became an issue of Hollywood versus the heartland," said Clooney, who opted not to publicly campaign for his father. "I believed I could only do him more harm."

Earlier, Clooney mentions how he told Barack Obama he would do anything to help him, "including staying completely away from him." The fact that Clooney is smart enough to say something like that makes me feel a lot better about things than when someone like Penn just rails self-righteously about the President. Clooney is an interesting actor (both professionally and as a social one). He deserves a bit more credit, I think, that Sullivan wants to give.