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"Throughout their battle to be the next US president, President Obama and Mitt Romney have not only been campaigning for the support of the country&amp;#8212;they&amp;#39;ve also been competing for the most celebrity support, too.\nAfter the extensive role that TV, social media, and YouTube has played in this election, the line between politics and Hollywood has become even increasingly fuzzier. The celebrity get is an important one: the enthusiasm for Election 2012 is palpably dimmer than it was four years ago, and, celebrity endorsement could play an especially large role this time around as both presidential hopefuls seek to reinvigorate their voting bases. And history has shown that celebrity backing can seriously affect results at the polls. In an extensive study conducted by the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, researchers found that Oprah&amp;#39;s endorsement of then presidential-hopeful Obama in the 2008 election translated into as many as a million votes for him.\nPinterestFacebookFor the first time since the campaign began, Romney&amp;#39;s overall fundraising efforts topped Obama&amp;#39;s in May, June, and July. Romney&amp;#39;s team has raised $186 million to Obama&amp;#39;s $124 million. The totals from the Obama team include around $15 million from a fundraiser with George Clooney at his Los Angeles home in May.\nContinuing a practice Obama was able to capitalize on during the 2008 campaign&amp;#8212;during which he raised $9.2 million from the entertainment industry&amp;#8212;the President is frequently in the company of celebrities. In February, rock legend Mick Jagger and B. B. King appeared at a Blues concert at the White House. And Clooney isn&amp;#39;t the only star he&amp;#39;s dining with: he also recently attended another fund-raising dinner at the home of actress Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband, Matthew Broderick, in New York City.\nRomney, whose camp has criticized Obama for being more interested in spending time with the stars than running the country, has the vocal backing of Donald Trump, rock star and guns-rights advocate Ted Nugent, and Hollywood tough guy Chuck Norris.\nAlthough Obama&amp;#39;s team said that 98 percent of donations in September 2012 were for less than $250 (with the average donation landing at around $55), presidential hopefuls rely on celebrity endorsements for big-ticket events with ample press coverage to boost fundraising and their profiles. However, the president has a long way to go to match his 2008 figures; in 2011, the president only raised $1.9 million from the entertainment industry.\nParlaying celebrity support used to be considered undignified, but when former president Bill Clinton appeared on a talk show in 1992 and significantly boosted his approval ratings&amp;#8212;despite lagging at the polls&amp;#8212;candidates and their campaign managers began to realize the power of reaching voters through celebrities.\nDon&amp;#39;t expect it to stop: as we head into the final stretch before November, Obama and Romney&amp;#39;s biggest celebrity supporters will step out loudest for them.\nDo you pay attention to the celebrities that endorse your candidates, or does it not influence you?\nEva Longoria is a strong supporter of Obama, too--she answered 5 questions with us at the Obama Women Vote 2012 Summit Tour Launch. \nInfographic: Caitlin Kelly"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/story/celebrity-presidential-endorse>