Does Celebrity Support Distort the Candidate's Power ?

I am curious about the celebrities who have thrown their support and time into the campaign of the candidate they favor. First of all, they have already reached star status, something each candidate wants for themself. I find the pairing off of a star and a candidate distracting. I see it as a distortion of both the sought after power and the importance of the race itself.

I can recall a Manchester Airport incident a few summers ago when I was sitting at a gate waiting for my plane to arrive. A stranger kindly asked me what I was reading. I flashed the cover of Tolstoy's" Anna Karenina" and proudly announced that it was Oprah Winfrey's summer reading. The woman turned from friendly to abrupt and said, "Do you do everything Oprah says?" I was speechless.

I have repeated that story many times in an attempt to show how a situation can change in an instant. Unprepared for that remark, I found myself wondering how obsurd I looked in that person's eyes to be buying books because a star recommended that I do so. Is that what some folks are now thinking about stars stumping around the state of New Hampshire. Will people come out to see the star and suffer through a few hours of politics? Funny, I now find myself aligned with the stranger in the airport. I find it curious that anyone would be swayed to vote for someone because a star "told them to."

Candidates say they are just hoping to draw bigger crowds, made up of people who would might not have come out otherwise. If in the end, endorsements cause people like me to revisit Tolstoy, or voters to revisit politics, then I guess it could be a good practice afterall.