The Morning News forwards message from the stars: Love Hillary, vote for Obama

The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas

Love Hillary But Vote For Obama, Steenburgen Urges
By Doug Thompson
THE MORNING NEWS
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/10/28/news/102908azdemrlly.txt
FAYETTEVILLE -- Vote for Barack Obama however close you are to Hillary Clinton, actress Mary Steenburgen told Northwest Arkansas Democrats on Tuesday.
The Oscar-winning actress and her Emmy-winning husband, Ted Danson, spoke to more than 300 Democrats during a rally at the Arkansas Air Museum. Steenburgen has known the Clintons since former President Bill Clinton was Arkansas governor and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., was first lady.
"I love them very much, and was close while she was making her decision to run for president," Steenburgen said of the Clintons. Clinton's loss in the Democratic primary "was the loss of a dream, not just for her but for many of us, for me as a woman and as the mother of three daughters," Steenburgen said. "I wanted to see that glass ceiling broken. I had to mourn for a little while."
Fayetteville in particular is a stronghold of state Democratic support for the Clintons. The Clintons lived in the city. They married there. Many of their strongest, longest personal friends live in the town. As recently as last week, the University of Arkansas' annual Arkansas Poll showed that strong loyalty to the Clintons throughout the state was an obstacle for Obama, who trails Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in polls here.
Steenburgen had "an internal journey" before she could support Obama, she said. She's now proud to represent him and is especially driven to campaign for him because of what she described as the deliberate stoking of groundless fears by GOP candidate John McCain and running-mate Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.
"Life is hard, and we don't need somebody scaring us more," Steenburgen said. "He (McCain) doesn't even believe this stuff himself. Redistribute the wealth? Yeah, let's redistribute it from China and Russia and the oil companies. ... They call me a Hollywood liberal. Well, I learned to be a liberal in a little house in North Little Rock, Arkansas, where my father was a railroad engineer and a proud Democrat. If you want to call me a liberal, then guilty as charged."
Dennis Milligan, the chairman of the state Republican Party, sent out a statement before Tuesday's rally: "Mary Steenburgen may have Arkansas roots, but in no way is her ultra-liberal ideology representative of the Arkansas voters she and her husband, Ted Danson, are attempting to court this week. We have yet to see Senator Obama himself come to Arkansas to ask for support; instead, he continues to send surrogates who fall far short of their assignment.
"Arkansas is a conservative state. We care about protecting our country, our families, and our pocketbooks. Sen. McCain's policies of tax relief, strong support for small business, and protection of our family values are right for Arkansas, and right for America."
Danson told the crowd that his late father was an archeologist and a "Goldwater Republican, proud of the Republican Party's history of conservation" stretching back to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. "He'd vote for Obama, because he'd be really, really angry at what this administration has done" to the environment, Danson said.