Hollywood directs political reality

BURBANK, Calif. -- In a state where actors run for governor, where political speechwriters work for fictional presidents, where actors cast as politicians campaign for real ones, it seemed natural that Howard Dean would take a cue from director Rob Reiner on "The Tonight Show" last week.

Helping his friend the Democratic presidential candidate prepare for the appearance, Reiner came up with a funny skit idea: have Dean stand on a sidewalk strumming a guitar, begging for campaign donations. Reiner, a powerful Hollywood presence for decades, then appeared on-screen and dropped a dollar in Dean's open guitar case.

The brief scene, which drew roars from the studio audience, demonstrated how intertwined politics and entertainment have become. It also epitomized the strange blend of fiction and reality that now defines the political process.

Was Dean acting? Was he campaigning? Was Reiner a political consultant or an acting coach? And was it any different from a miniscandal weeks earlier, when Dean got free debate advice on the fictional-reality show "K Street"?

Such questions are at the heart of the California governor's race: Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken political fiction to a new dimension with his "Total Recall" campaign, playing his action-hero persona to the hilt. But it pervades every other race, too.

"I think it's almost not even a blurry line anymore -- it's an obliterated line," Reiner said, as he waited at the NBC studios for the show to begin. "And I think it's very dangerous for our democracy. It's critical that we not let it be celebrity or name recognition or fame that determines who our leaders are going to be."

Maybe it's precisely because Reiner has been mingling politics and entertainment at a sophisticated level for years -- he directed "The American President," the movie that inspired the television drama "The West Wing," and is one of the most respected Democratic forces in Hollywood -- that he can afford to fantasize about separating the two realms. Other political advisers say they do not have that luxury and are more likely to embrace the blend.

"Politics and culture are organic and constantly evolving, and as they evolve, they intersect more and more," said Mark McKinnon, who has been crafting President Bush's image since he was governor of Texas.

"What that means is that the people who get elected in the future may be sort of a hybrid of people who have policy and entertainment capabilities," McKinnon said. "Basically, politics responds to the market, and that's what the market is demanding.

"The market is now a very entertainment, popular-culture-driven market. The fact is, politics is all about communication. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a great communicator, Ronald Reagan was a great communicator. They develop those skills in one world and deliver them in another."

That dynamic could explain the surge of entertainers wading deep into the thicket of politics and policy, running for office and advising candidates, rather than simply donating large amounts of money as the Hollywood set usually has done. The comedian Dennis Miller, a Republican, has been urged to run against Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, next year. Talk-show host Jerry Springer nearly ran for a US Senate seat in Ohio last year. Kinky Friedman, a Texas humorist and musician, has discussed running for governor of that state, though he may not be serious. "If Lance Armstrong and Willie Nelson stay out of the race, you're probably talking to the next governor of Texas," Friedman said in a recent Knight Ridder interview.

Reporters have fed the frenzy, treating celebrity activists more seriously than some politicians. When Miller, on behalf of Schwarzenegger, briefed the press corps after the candidates debated in Sacramento, the comedian was nearly crushed by the camera crews that rushed him at the door. When actor Rob Lowe broke ranks with his fellow Democrats to join the Schwarzenegger team, it was reported more widely than many of Governor Gray Davis's campaign events.

Celebrities have always harnessed fame for political causes, and politicians have risen and fallen on their ability to entertain. Political campaigns also offer a compelling narrative, with a well-defined plot that (usually) ends on election day.

But there is a surreal quality to the current media meld, embodied by the Schwarzenegger campaign. On his bus tour across California, which began Thursday, the six buses in the convoy were named after his movies, from "Predator" to "The Running Man."

He has named his political committee "Total Recall," a play on both the recall election and another of his films. In the entrance to his campaign headquarters in Santa Monica stands a giant mural of vintage Schwarzenegger, wearing all black and pointing a blazing machine gun at an unseen target.

More substantively, Schwarzenegger has used the entertainment industry to bypass the political press corps, announcing his candidacy on "The Tonight Show" and giving one of his few lengthy interviews to Oprah Winfrey. The strategy is familiar: Bush used the same venues successfully in his 2000 campaign. For Dean, walking the line between fiction and reality has been controversial. After his fictional debate-preparation scene in the first episode of "K Street," Dean headed to the real Democratic presidential debate and used a line that had been given to him by James Carville on the set. When the show aired, other candidates cried foul.There is little evidence the trend can be reversed. "It's hard to get away from it," Reiner said. "We have to just hope the person who is accessible and pleasant and well known is also someone who is capable."