Angelina Jolie hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate, and tells reporters despite (political) overtures from both Obama and McCain “she’s waiting to see what commitments each makes on international relief issues.” For those on the right who think Jolie is a lost cause, recall that she wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post supporting the surge and pooh-poohing talk about how additional U.S. troops were hurting people abroad. At the time, she urged Americans to stay the course.
Political squabbling was notably absent from Jolie’s analysis. Indeed, she didn’t mention President Bush, Sen. McCain, or any Democrat. She just wrote about the people she met with when in Iraq. For Americans, Jolie represents a very different kind of celebrity. She’s more like Bono than Hilton — a serious humanitarian who puts her celebrity to work for non-partisan causes that no one can deny are good. Politics for Jolie is not just a fashion statement on the red carpet. Jolie doesn’t just talk the talk. She’s walks the walk, traveling on humanitarian missions to dangerous places to raise awareness about problems in the world. Jolie’s endorsement could be critical for McCain. It would signal to centrists that he is not a crazy warmonger — even Hollywood’s biggest celebs aren’t afraid of him. McCain could offer to meet with Jolie, or perhaps better yet, Cindy McCain could meet with her to discuss her own humanitarian work and the important role such matters will assume in her husband’s administration. And McCain should use the opportunity such a meeting offers to start talking up his support for international humanitarian efforts. In fact, it might even be the right time to announce a major U.S. investment to help bring displaced Iraqi refugees back to their homes.
