Why do we cares who celebrities are supporting for president? Doo they influence us?

Now that the dust has cleared, the voters will choose either between Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. and cast their ballots for the next president of the United States. The life stories of the candidates, their political experiences, their positions on the major issues, their ages, their temperaments, and, in the case of Trump, his convictions have been well reported by the media. Anyone who tells a pollster that they are undecided because “they are waiting for the candidates to define themselves” is admitting “I have been paying no attention whatsoever to current events.”

When I invest my money, make health care decisions or buy a car or a major appliance, I have managed to make it this far in life by relying on a careful weighing of the evidence, collecting and analyzing data and getting opinions from qualified experts. When it comes to voting, I read the newspaper, watch the news, read respected columnists and editorials and chat with knowledgeable friends and co-workers. I don’t consult celebrities regarding important life decisions. Why would I?

When I was a little boy, Bob Hope me that I “could trust my car to the man who wears the Texaco star.” First of all, I was too young to drive, much less have a car. Second, Hope certainly had a chauffeur and wasn’t dropping his Studebaker off for a set of spark plugs. Joe DiMaggio told me he liked a cup of coffee from his Mister Coffee machine. I don’t actually think the Yankee Clipper spent a lot of time puttering around the kitchen.  Yogi Berra said he drank Yoo-Hoo chocolate drink. Well, maybe Berra really did. I wanted The Flintstones on my elementary school lunch box.  But now, guess what? I am a grown up. I recognize that celebrity product endorsers are a form of marketing, not data. So why are celebrity endorsements considered presidential election news? Let’s consider a few of them:

• Precisely what qualifies Barbra Streisand to warrant a newspaper headline because she says she’s voting for Kamala Harris? Does anyone seriously think that Streisand’s high school diploma, her ability to belt out the high notes whilst singing “People” or “On a Clear Day” with a “Noo Yahwk” accent, and to appear in movies or Broadway shows renders her opinion on the candidate’s positions on economic policies any more or less useful than that chatty Uber driver I was compelled to listen to on the same subject last Tuesday?

• Hulk Hogan says we should vote for Trump. Hogan achieved fame and fortune in the made-up world of professional wrestling. Professional wrestling is a sport equal in importance to your local McDonald’s running out of fresh parsley. The cringe-worthy moment of Hogan at the Republican National Convention pledging his fidelity to Trump, whilst tearing off his shirt, must have been the product of some campaign staffer’s imagination. Perhaps the staffer concluded that a subset of the voters make their choices based on the induction of a testosterone surge. Exactly what aspect of Hogan’s wrestling theatrics qualifies him to opine on the candidate’s views of U.S. policy towards North Korea?

• We’ve also been treated to a major OpEd by movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg offering his endorsement of Ms. Harris. Katzenberg played a big role in producing  Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. So let’s think about that. Does  producing cartoons about green trolls and talking animals  qualify someone to give me advice about who should control the nuclear arsenal of the United States? Maybe I missed that political science class in college, but I don’t think so.

More: Celebrities back Kamala Harris for president after Joe Biden drops reelection bid

I suppose some people conflate being rich and famous with being qualified to answer tough questions. It brings to mind the lyrics of the song “If I Were a Rich Man” from Broadway show “Fiddler on the Roof”: When people pose tough questions “It won’t make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong. When you’re rich, they think you really know.’

The Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis said that the most exalted job in a democracy was that of citizen. He was right. I take my voting rights and my vote seriously. If Streisand, Hogan and Katzenberg do also, good for them. They haven’t asked me for my opinion and I neither need nor want theirs. The most sensible thing I have heard on this topic was when the actress Meryl Streep was the commencement speaker at my daughter’s college graduation.

Streep told the crowd, “The fame fairy happened to have landed upon me in life. This gives me no qualifications whatsoever to be dispensing advice at a college graduation. I recognize that I have been invited because I am famous.”

She was right.  When it comes to presidential politics, rich and famous people are rich and famous, not public policy experts.

Edward C. Halperin MD, MA teaches history of medicine at New York Medical College, where he is also chancellor and CEO. This essay represents his opinion and not that of the college.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Celebrity endorsements for president