Presidential contender Ron Paul, a 76-year-old Texas Republican, may be an elder statesman on Capitol Hill, but in Hollywood, he’s a star. Actor Vince Vaughn, in a surprise announcement, has signed on to introduce Paul at a rally tonight in Reno, Nevada.
“Ron and Vince are friends, with Vince not merely interested in Dr. Paul’s philosophy but he also graciously invited Dr. and Mrs. Paul to the premier of his film Couples Retreat,” explains Paul adviser Jesse Benton in a statement. Paul attended the cinematic shindig in 2009 with Vaughn, who supported Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Vaughn, who has starred in popular films such as Swingers and Wedding Crashers, is not the only celebrity to back the libertarian Republican. Singer Barry Manilow also signed onto the Paul bandwagon this week, telling the Daily Caller that he agrees “with just about everything he says.”
Andrew Breitbart, the author of Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon, tells NRO that “the significance of this endorsement should focus not on who he endorsed but that he is deviating from the Hollywood leftist line.”
“This is huge,” Breitbart says. “I predict a creeping emancipation in the coming election cycle where a slew of closet conservatives, libertarians and political non-conformists alike throw caution to the wind and expose their rejection of the industry’s vindictive, near-totalitarian Democratic-party mindset. Good for Vince. And Barry Manilow, for that matter.”