During the December 10 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly noted that “polls show that most Americans do not care about celebrity endorsements” and then criticized Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards for the support he has received from several celebrities. After stating that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has “admit[ted]” that his support for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) “may damage her” in the general election, O'Reilly said: “And even crazier is [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chavez's best friend, [singer and actor] Harry Belafonte, endorsing John Edwards." O'Reilly then aired a clip of Belafonte proclaiming his support for Edwards and added: “Oh, I guess that means Edwards has a lock on the Fidel Castro vote,” referring to the Cuban president. Later in the program, O'Reilly said Belafonte “is [late Vietnamese communist leader] Ho Chi Minh's second cousin, you know, in thought.” After noting that actors Danny Glover and Tim Robbins also support Edwards, O'Reilly stated: "[W]hy don't you get [convicted serial killers] Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy. ... Look, these people are so kooky."

From the December 10 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thank you for watching us tonight. Celebrities endorsing politicians is the subject of this evening's “Talking Points Memo.”

[Talk-show host] Oprah [Winfrey] loves [Sen. Barack] Obama [D-IL] and took time out of her very busy schedule to endorse him in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

WINFREY [video clip]: The reason I love Barack Obama is because he speaks to the potential inside of every one of us. Each one of us has a calling and a potential here on Earth to do the good and the great thing. He knows that.

O'REILLY: Now, polls show that most Americans do not care about celebrity endorsements, but I believe Oprah will help Obama in the primaries.

Surely, Hillary Clinton can't be too happy about this. Well, she's got support from billionaire Warren Buffett, who's also supporting Obama, hedging his bets a little bit. Senator Clinton also trotting out San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. That move is questionable, to say the least, as the mayor is a very far-left guy, Mr. San Francisco values.

Now, Mrs. Clinton knows that far-left votes in Iowa and New Hampshire are very important, but in the general election, even Newsom admits his association with Clinton may damage her.

And even crazier is Hugo Chavez's best friend, Harry Belafonte, endorsing John Edwards.

BELAFONTE [video clip]: I looked at his platform on education, health care, poverty, what young people are going through. And I have come to believe that he is the best candidate.

O'REILLY: Oh, I guess that means Edwards has a lock on the Fidel Castro vote. By the way, our pal Tim Robbins also endorsed Edwards, capping quite a weekend for him.

In making her campaign speech, Oprah Winfrey cited Martin Luther King. So looks like there's a civil rights component to her support for Obama. Buffett apparently believes that income redistribution is the way to go. He supports higher taxes for the wealthy. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama believe in redistributing income through taxation, so Buffett's support is understandable.

Now, all I can say about Edwards is that he has no chance. But after the primary season, he should hold a big party in his mansion, his huge mansion, his enormous mansion, and invite all his radical-left supporters. That'd be quite a display, wouldn't it?

Now, in the end, voters will not be swayed by celebrities, or the media, or even by political ads. These days, the one-on-one debates usually tell the tale, and I expect that will be the case next fall.

However, in the crazy primary season, Oprah and Buffett do matter, at least a little bit. And that's the “Memo.”

[...]

O'REILLY: But you have to -- you both have to understand how powerful Harry Belafonte is in this country.

POWERS: Yeah.

MARGARET HOOVER (Republican strategist): It's like a Saturday Night sketch.

O'REILLY: Now -- hold it, hold it, hold it. You're John Edwards, Hoover, OK?

HOOVER: Yeah, OK. I'm putting it on.

O'REILLY: And you're living in this enormous mansion. And you're running around telling everybody there's two Americas, one for me, John Edwards, who lives in an enormous mansion, and one for everybody else, who lives across the street literally in a trailer park, whom I won't talk to.

So Harry Belafonte, who is Ho Chi Minh's second cousin, you know, in thought, he actually comes out for Edwards. And Edwards was embarrassed. He -- we saw Edwards. He, like, sprinted away from this, but that hurts Edwards, does it not?

HOOVER: You know, it hurts Edwards. But like Kirsten's saying, the point is that celebrity endorsements and this notion that they can actually change the vote undermines the credibility and the savviness --

O'REILLY: It undermines Edwards' credibility. You have Tim Robbins, Danny Glover --

HOOVER: Undermines the savviness of the American voter.

O'REILLY: Hold it.

HOOVER: American voters are smarter than to let celebrities decide who we're going to vote for.

O'REILLY: Hold it.

HOOVER: And I think we don't -- we lose sight of that.

O'REILLY: Here's John Edwards -- he's trying to win the nomination. He has no shot. He has a shot in Iowa because a lot of far-left loons going to vote in that primary. But he trots out Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, and Tim Robbins.

HOOVER: It's like the warm-up act for Obama, isn't it? It's like [unintelligible]

O'REILLY: Yeah, I mean, come on, Powers. Why don't you get Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy --

POWERS: [unintelligible] go that far.

O'REILLY: Look, these people are so kooky.

POWERS: Look, they're very far left, but I think that it's pretty consistent with John Edwards' theme.