Hollywood Votes With Its Wallet: Obama Holds 16-1 Advantage in Fund-Raising

With all indications that the presidential election on Nov. 6 will be extremely close, one factor in the race clearly isn't: the money Hollywood is giving to the two presidential candidates. Through Oct. 21, 198 "celebrity" donors have given $684,006 to the Barack Obama campaign compared with 14 donors who have given $43,250 to Mitt Romney's camp, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the leading organization that tracks donations.

For those keeping score, that’s a 16-to-1 advantage for the incumbent over the Massachusetts governor. Among the actors, producers and directors who have given the Obama campaign at least $5,000 are Cameron Crowe, Will Ferrell, Ron Howard, Scarlett Johansson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eddie Murphy, George Clooney, J.J. Abrams, Ellen DeGeneres, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx, Brian Grazer, Adrian Grenier, Tom Hanks, Mariska Hargitay, Will Smith, Aaron Sorkin, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, Quentin Tarantino, Marlo Thomas, Sam Waterston and Rita Wilson. Among singers and songwriters, Don Henley and Randy Newman have given Obama $5,000 each. Dozens more from the industry have given lesser amounts. The list of Hollywood campaign contributors has grown so long that, for the first time, The Center for Responsive Politics has established “celebrity” lists with the names of well-known people giving to each campaign. The list, which is based on filings with the Federal Election Commission, includes entertainers but also professional athletes, authors and fashion designers.