WHEN then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton made his storied appearance with saxophone in hand on "The Arsenio Hall Show" 16 years ago, he changed presidential politics -- turning pop culture's hippest TV shows into the contemporary equivalent of campaign whistle-stops.
Plenty of politicians from both parties have followed Clinton's lead, seeking new and even more daring ways of connecting with mass audiences via entertainment.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, August 23, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 33 words Type of Material: Correction
Politics and pop culture: The Cause Celebre column in the Aug. 15 Calendar section said that Richard Nixon played the piano on Jack Paar's television show in 1960. That event occurred in 1963.
Some might argue that it's been downhill ever since.
Witness the ongoing ad fight between John McCain and Barack Obama, each accusing the other of being . . . well, celebrities. These days, every campaign manufactures its own vocabulary. Turning "celebrity" into an epithet may seem like a long shot, but four years ago "swift boat" described a Vietnam War relic.
To members of the entertainment industry, the charge is ridiculous: Of course both Obama and McCain are celebrities, as every ambitious politician on the scene these days hopes to be. Modern day politics in America requires it of them.
"There's a reason pop culture attracts viewers: It's entertaining," said political consultant and former Clinton White House staffer Chad Griffin, who has a large Hollywood clientele. "Politics, on the other hand, is not something people usually enjoy. So what do you do? You make yourself more visible to the public in a more entertaining way."
McCain and Obama have been enthusiastic participants in this system, working talk-show hosts as they would a crowd in Ohio.
As a result, the path Clinton blazed is indeed well traveled:
You go on with Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert so that people can see you're able to take a joke, even at your own expense. You go on with Jay Leno to show you're a regular guy and can carry on a conversation like one. Oprah Winfrey shows you've got soul and David Letterman demonstrates you're hip and smart but unpretentious.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who understands celebrity from every angle, took things a step further and actually announced his candidacy for governor of California on Leno. Actor Fred Thompson followed suit, announcing that he was running for president on the show's Burbank soundstage last year.
Politicians before Clinton occasionally appeared on TV programs. (Richard Nixon played the piano on Jack Paar in 1960). But it was always clear they stood apart from entertainment.
