By Kelly Amodeo

Celebrities are everywhere, endorsing everything from Jenny Craig to Ford trucks. They can always be in the limelight, if they choose. And what better way to use their fame than in politics?

Celebrities have been endorsing and supporting presidential candidates since a group of Broadway performers formally backed Republican Warren Harding in 1920.

The question remains whether or not it actually helps the candidate during the primaries.

The primaries are important to a small percentage of registered voters who are interested in the entire process, but most voters do not make it out to the polls. No one has conducted an exit poll that tallies up the voters who were persuaded by a recommendation from their favorite celebrity.

About 40 percent of New Hampshireís voters (up from 30 percent in 2000) voted in this year’s primaries, proving that people are beginning to understand how important the contests are. Do celebrity endorsements have anything to do with this? Most likely not.

People are out there voting because there are issues in the United States that concern them. It seems voters have learned from the 2004 election that their vote matters.

Celebrities make the primaries more visible but they don’t necessarily bring more voters out to the polls. This year, every candidate has a celebrity endorser and some are considered to have more pull than others, while others are irrelevant.

Barack Obama has Oprah Winfrey backing him, while Fred Thompson (who dropped out) had "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak supporting him.

These celebrities can go out and tell the people who to back and to get out there and vote in the primaries, but do the people act on that advice?

The people who vote in the primaries are dedicated to the process of electing a president and realize their vote in these early contests makes a difference. These primary voters decide who will be nominated for the "big dance." Celebrities who are endorsing a chosen candidate may realize it but they do not make it apparent enough in their rhetoric.

When the general election arrives, celebrities can be seen trying to convince people to get out and vote. During the month of October, they are everywhere with their slogans such as "Vote or Die!" or "Vote for Change."

It’s true that the general election is very important because it obviously decides who the next president is, but the primaries are equally as important. The people who vote in those elections decide which candidates are qualified enough to even be nominated.

Something as important as the primaries deserves more attention. While celebrities are out there endorsing candidates, they should also be telling the masses how important it is to vote. Not only will people realize they get to decide who becomes nominated for president, but they also get to decide who becomes president in the general election.

Because primaries are not important to most people, they will most likely not pay attention to the celebrity endorsements of the candidates.

When Oprah came out and said she was supporting Obama, just about everyone paid attention. She is a powerful force in the celebrity world with over 60 million viewers daily, but some say she isn’t powerful enough to sway voters towards the Obama camp. She may have brought 30,000 people to a rally, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are voting for Obama.

Oprah can boost the awareness of Obama, but it remains to be seen if she can influence them to vote for him in the primaries.

The same can be said for fans of Chuck Norris, who is supporting former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. There are martial arts fans that support Norris and didn’t know about Huckabee until their favorite Chun-Kuk-Do master began endorsing him. The fans may know about Huckabee now, but that doesn’t automatically translate into votes.

Celebrities should not stop endorsing politicians because most people are more attentive to celebrities than those who may run the country.

If it takes a celebrity to make a person aware of the general election and remind them to vote, then that is fine. It takes a concerned population which cares about the future to get voters to the polls.