Madonna Endorses Democrat Wesley Clark For President

Singer met with retired general last month in Los Angeles. 

 

Veteran singer, actress and professional provocateur Madonna has joined retired Gen. Wesley Clark’s army.

Madonna, a Detroit native who now calls England home, announced her endorsement of Clark, the former NATO Supreme Commander, for president during a recent interview with CNN. “As it stands right now, he’s got my support,” Madonna said. “I think to be a general for as long as he’s been, this is a man who knows how to deal with pressure and make decisions under pressure.”

Last month Clark and Madonna met for 90 minutes at the singer’s Los Angeles home, according to various reports. At the time, Clark expressed amazement at the unusual locations the campaign trail has taken him. “I’m going to do everything I can to make [the campaign] as exciting, interesting and fun as possible,” he told CBS. “I was even talking with Madonna — Madonna — yesterday.”

Clark was in the Netherlands on Tuesday, where he testified in the trial of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, who is accused of waging a terror campaign against ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo.

Madonna adds her name to a long list of celebrities, former celebrities and almost celebrities who have lined up behind the various Democrats running for president. Democratic front-runner and former governor of Vermont Howard Dean has won the financial backing of actor Paul Newman, director Rob Reiner and actress Susan Sarandon, all longtime supporters of liberal candidates and causes.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman’s supporters include Debra Messing of NBC’ s “Will & Grace” and Jerry Stiller of the CBS show “King of Queens.” Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has raised funds from Uma Thurman and Don Henley. Ben Affleck gave $1,000 to the campaign of Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich earlier this year but has reportedly been courted by the Clark campaign in recent weeks.

Def Jam founder Russell Simmons has given $500 to the campaign of former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, and Blink-182 singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge has endorsed Kerry on the band’s Web site.

A number of celebrities have donated funds or time to multiple candidates. Actor Ed Norton has given to Kucinich and Kerry. Longtime Democratic contributor and Clinton pal Barbra Streisand has donated to Clark, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Congressman Dick Gephardt and Dean. Actor Michael Douglas gave $2,000 each to Gephardt and Dean.

“Seinfeld” creator and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David has given to Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Dean and Gephardt. Aaron Sorkin, creator of NBC’s “West Wing,” gave to those three candidates, plus Clark.

Seductress in pain

Becky Johnson: Maybe, we should begin this interview with a verbal shit list. What don’t you want to talk about?
 
Madonna: No four-letter words.

Becky Johnson: I am assuming the ban on four-letter words includes any mention of your estranged husband.

Madonna: Yes.

Becky Johnson: Just as a footnote, I read in the Los Angeles Times that you’re doing a big media blitz for the release of your new album, Like a Prayer. I’m sure you know the press will try to badger you with questions about your personal life, so how do you plan to deal with that?

Madonna: Well, generally I do interviews because I have something to talk about in terms of my work, and I try to keep it in that area. I mean, it’s kind of an insult that they want to know those other things. It seems the most important thing to them is to find out… stuff I’d rather not talk about, things that don’t have anything to do with my work. And it’s nobody’s business. But people always want to know what’s not their business.

Becky Johnson: Do you care what people think about you in general?

Madonna: Yes, I do.

Becky Johnson: Are you vulnerable to criticism, to bad press?

Madonna: Absolutely. Definitely.

Becky Johnson: What about one of your other current projects? You’re about to star in Warren Beatty’s film Dick Tracy, playing Breathless Mahoney. What’s she like?

Madonna: What’s she like? She’s… I don’t know. She’s a girl. She’s scarred. She’s a seductress in a lot of pain.

Becky Johnson: Have you spent the last couple of weeks preparing for the role?

Madonna: In terms of Breathless Mahoney, I’ve probably been preparing for the role all my life. [laughs] But superficially, yes… I mean, I had to dye my hair, pluck my eyebrows, have a lot of fittings. Stephen Sondheim is writing songs of the period for the film, so I’ve been working on them, and they’re quite difficult.

Becky Johnson: Why’s that?

Madonna: Because Stephen Sondheim writes in a kind of chromatic wildness. They’re difficult songs to learn. I mean one song is written with five sharps. They’re brilliant, but really complex.

Becky Johnson: Are they mostly torch songs?

Madonna: One is. There are three songs. One is a torch song and another is more up-tempo. It’s kind of like "Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend" or "Material Girl," where she keeps singing about how she wants more and more. It’s about gluttony. And it’s funny, it’s ironic. And then the third song is a kind of slow, sad song. I’m going to be singing it with Mandy Patinkin, who plays my accompanist at the nightclub where I work. It’s the kind of song you sing at three in the morning, when the club is empty. It’s very melancholy… just a piano and a voice. But they’re all really different for me, and so I’ve been working very hard to get them right.

Becky Johnson: Do you feel this part is more demanding than a lot of other parts you’ve played?

Madonna: [long pause] Yes and no. I’m different now from when I played those other parts, so everything is different for me. And I think there are a lot more subtleties to her character than it would seem on the surface. So in that respect it’s more demanding for me.


Becky Johnson: You’ve just finished a much-talked-about commercial for Pepsi. It’s apparently the longest television commercial ever made.

Madonna: Uh-huh. I just saw it. I love it.

Becky Johnson: Do they actually run the whole length of your song for it?

Madonna: It’s an edited version of the song. The song on the album is five and a half minutes long. It would be great if they could run a commercial that long, but it’s too much airtime to buy.

Becky Johnson: It’s kind of a dicey proposition, doing a commercial, isn’t it?

Madonna: I had a lot of apprehension about it at first, but we had several meetings, and in the end I got to collaborate with them, I had a lot of input, and they came up with a story that I found to be very touching. I don’t feel I was used, if that’s what you mean.

Becky Johnson: The first video off your new album uses the same song you chose to feature in the commercial, "Like a Prayer." How would you compare the two treatments of the same song?

Madonna: The treatment for the video is a lot more controversial. It’s probably going to touch a lot of nerves in a lot of people. And the treatment for the commercial is, I mean, it’s a commercial. It’s very, very sweet. It’s very sentimental.