CNN questions legitimacy of celebrity endorsement for Romney

On Wednesday, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney traversed the state of Ohio looking for crucial votes which may decide this year's election. He hit the ground running with "Dirty Jobs" host Mike Rowe and also received support from golf legend Jack Nicklaus. Now, generally when President Obama receives a random endorsement from a big-name celebrity, the media fawns and speculates how their name recognition will help his campaign. But this isn't the case for Mitt Romney...

During a CNN broadcast yesterday, anchor Brooke Baldwin wondered how on earth the endorsement of Jack Nicklaus could help Romney. He "doesn't even live in Ohio anymore!" she exclaimed.

WATCH:

Here's the transcript, via Newsbusters:

BROOKE BALDWIN: And we'll also talk about Romney and Ohio, because that's precisely where he is today, to gain some traction. And he was joined this morning by a guy I know many of us would recognize. A really world-class, world famous athlete, Ohio native, who got up there and talked about winning, talked about success. Here is Jack Nicklaus.

JACK NICKLAUS (video clip): When I was competing, I didn't lean on someone else in tough times. I knew what I had to do on the golf course to succeed. And when I won, I certainly didn't apologize for my success.

BALDWIN: So Peter Hamby, I'm just going to play devil's advocate. And look, I love golf, working on my swing, who doesn't love Jack Nicklaus. But here you have – you have Romney needing middle class votes in Ohio. How is he helped by a man who has been the face of professional golf, doesn't even live in Ohio anymore?

PETER HAMBY: Well it's hard to hate on Jack. The guy has 18 Masters. Look, he said in the speech, this election isn't about wealthy people, it's about the middle class. And you want surrogates like this in Ohio. Jack Nicklaus is an Ohio legend. He's from the Columbus area, that's where they were campaigning together. That's a bellwether part of the state. He went to Ohio State. I mean, in my personal preference, I want to see where Bubba Watson and the Golf Boys are going in this election.

It is hard to "hate on" one of the most successful professional athletes to walk the planet.  But by playing "devil's advocate," Baldwin manages to discount Nicklaus' achievements and his endorsement of Mitt Romney.  All in a day's work for the mainstream media...

Meanwhile, Madonna took to the stage in Washington, DC with an inaccurate "ironic" endorsement of "[expletive] Obama."  I don't hear anyone fretting about her endorsement -- after all, she doesn't even live there!  I'm also still waiting for the media to label Madonna as a giant racist "teabagger" for calling Obama a Muslim.  Instead, the Washington Postwarns that Madonna's so-called irony "pushes the right's ideology." (?!?)

Madonna's controversial statements used to be about purposely pushing the envelope from sexuality to women's rights. By linking the word "Muslim" to Obama, she is, unwittingly or not, amplifying the message of those on the far, far right. Politics is a minefield. Madonna should stick with safe topics like sex and dancing.

Ok, I'm going to momentarily overlook the BLATANT sexism inherent in this garbage and just comment on the bizarre liberal logic:  If a conservative nets a celebrity endorsement, it means nothing.  If a conservative's liberal opponent gets a celebrity endorsement, it's HUGE news.  If the liberal opponent's celebrity endorser turns out to be an "ironic" bigot, conservatives are still somehow the bad guys.

We just can't catch a break.

Author's note: I originally had Madonna's concert located in Washington state rather than D.C.  The post has been updated to correct the error.