Sometimes – okay, a lot – I just SMH over stories like this. Mega-superstars are jockeying for convention slots!https://t.co/x9em5Eymyf
— Al Giordano (@AlGiordano) June 21, 2016
Yeah, well, readership capture. From the Politico article:
Democratic operatives planning next month’s national convention in Philadelphia have reached out to Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony Award-winning writer and star of the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton,” about performing at the Wells Fargo Center, sources told POLITICO.
It’s part of an ambitious plan to generate excitement and boost television viewership for the party convention after what Democrats expect to be a four-day reality show at the Republican convention in Cleveland…
His father, Luis Miranda Jr., a major player in New York Democratic politics, said, “There is no truth to these rumors” about his son’s potential star turn at the convention. A spokesman for the Clinton campaign and a spokesman for the DNC declined to comment.
But the push for Miranda, as well as other A-listers with a point of view, is a sign that Clinton operatives are seeking to engage core Democratic groups like young voters, African-Americans and Latinos, with headliners other than the expected roster of gray-haired politicians.
“The nights are three-hour prime-time TV shows,” said PR executive Ken Sunshine, a Clinton fundraiser with deep ties to the entertainment world. “Entertainment and adding excitement become a key part of it, as opposed to hard-core politics. The one that understands that is Trump, except that’s all he seems to understand.”…
The ultimate goal of the convention, according to operatives involved in the planning, is to produce a “coming together” moment that unites the party against Trump.
But second to party unity is the goal of producing some memorable, watchable moments that will encourage core Democratic demos to tune in to the live cable coverage of the four-day convention — and share it broadly across social media…
“Good entertainment doesn’t have to appeal to the lowest level of expression,” said Sunshine. “Great art and humor can be inspirational, uplifting, can celebrate our diversity instead of cheap laughs at the expense of other Americans.”…
Late-Night Celebrity Political News Open ThreadPost + Comments (45)