AP News, October 9th, 2007
Political campaigns are often accused of being scripted. But directed by a famous Hollywood figure?
In an appeal for volunteers, a new tongue-in-cheek Web video by Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign depicts two earnest Clinton workers getting unsolicited help from Rob Reiner, the actor-writer-director-producer who is backing Clinton's presidential bid.
The garrulous, bearlike Reiner, whose directorial hits include "This is Spinal Tap," "A Few Good Men," "Stand By Me," and "When Harry Met Sally," imposes himself on one young Clinton neighborhood canvasser as he tries to make his pitch to a woman who has just answered his knock.
"No, no! That's not working! Look, look at her reaction. Nothing. She'd rather do laundry than talk to you! You gotta be more forceful," he commands.
"She'd rather be making a casserole than talk to you."
He interrupts a phone bank volunteer in mid-call to admonish her: "No, that's not going to work. You're not going to convince anybody with that. It's flat. You need, you need to find your motivation, you need to find the passion."
He then listens to auditions of young people frenetically singing, shouting, shaking placards for Clinton, only to suggest, "Could you try it with a little bit more enthusiasm?"
The two-minute video ends with an appeal: "Make noise. Make signs. Make history. Everyone has a role."
Reiner is not the only celebrity finding a place in Hillaryland.
Actor Vince Curatola, who played New York mob boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni in the series "The Sopranos," played a cameo role in a Clinton spoof of the popular HBO show last June.
Later this month, Elvis Costello is scheduled to perform at Clinton's 60th birthday. The Oct. 26 event will double as a campaign fundraiser.
