Almost everything I’ve read on Twitter or Facebook today begins with the line “To My American Friends…” and is followed by some instruction on voting smart, or voting for the right guy, or voting at all.
We have some envy here, is what you need to know. Canadian elections are…not like yours. There is no theatre. There is no long, official looking ballot like the one Beyonce filled out – in fact, most of our ballots look like the bottom third of a school trip permission form. Most of the time you cast your vote with a golf pencil. No lie.
So the Presidential Elections are like theatre. Especially when celebrities get involved. I’m all for a world where doing one’s civic duty is bragworthy, but it makes for some pretty entertaining “news”. It’s self-pro-vote-ion. Also, I’m really sorry about that pun and I’ll never make it again.
My favourite so far today is my favourite often – Joshua Malina tweets “I support Barack Obama because I’m a single issue voter: Women”. It’s early in the day to call it a mic-drop, but I’m not sure anyone’s going to surpass him. At least in that medium.
However, there are other equally amusing vote manouevres that have landed already. I am beyond pleased that Beyonce voted with no makeup on – it was SO important she got out the door fresh-faced. Good messaging! However, @AnikaNoniRose just tweeted that it is illegal to post a photo of your ballot online, so I really, really hope Beysus hasn’t disqualified herself.
Then there’s SJP. I mean, you have to appreciate this woman’s savvy. It’s a common trick among auditioning actors who are being called back for a second and third time to wear the same thing so they remember you. SJP is using this to link herself indelibly to the candidate she likes – so if you love her, you’ll feel inclined to vote the same way? At the end of last month she wore an Obama T-shirt on Access Hollywood and made her political position very clear. Here she is today wearing the same T-shirt as she shows James Wilkie that it’s important to be proud of your political stance and that voting is important enough to show off to the photographers who, on another day, might be a mere nuisance.
Lenny Kravitz, of course, has highlighted one of my favourite things about this election – people who are filthy stinking rich still get really excited about a two-cent sticker that you can’t pay for. I know you’re like “oh, no, he’s just highlighting that he’s voted” but do you know how many celebs I’ve read whining that they didn’t get a sticker because they mailed in their vote? I wrote this before I realized the stickers are sometimes specific by region, which makes me feel like it’s less mockable and more like I want some stickers.
If your favourite celeb has yet to do something showy and over the top to show that they too VOTED, stand by as I’m sure we’ll get some quality West Coast action soon. Like, are the Beverly Hills polling stations the best place to star-spot?
