Matt Damon: Right Message, Wrong Messenger
A lot of people are talking and blogging about Matt Damon’s comments on the Sarah Palin choice for vice president (above). But here is the problem:
It’s the right frame and message on Palin but Damon is the wrong messenger. When Hollywood celebrities speak out on the election it energizes some young people and the liberal base, but Damon’s comments are immediately undercut as just the latest “Hollywood elitist” savaging middle American values. In short, his comments help feed the narrative that McCain is using against Obama.
It’s even more of a self-inflicted wound when you get comments like those from Pamela Anderson that Palin can “go suck it.” See the clip from Morning Joe on MSNBC on how these celebrity comments are translated in popular perceptions and discourse.
