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Kelly Mori writes about health and higher education.Home > Blogs > On Campus > Archives > 2008 > October > 30
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Ben Stiller rocks the vote at UD
Ohio can make a difference in this year’s presidential election, said Ben Stiller in an interview with the Dayton Daily News during the Rock the Vote rally on Thursday, Oct. 30, at the the University of Dayton.
Stiller, whose films include “Meet the Parents” and “Tropic Thunder,” was joined at UD by singer Sheryl Crow, hip-hop group the Beastie Boys and fellow actor Laura Dern.
“These swing states are so important,” said Stiller, a New York City native who lives in Los Angeles. “Living in a place where it isn’t a swing state, you want to come somewhere where you can actually feel like you can make a difference, and just do what you can, really, to try to get people to come out and vote.”
Stiller didn’t vote much when he was young, he admitted. “You realize if you really care about your country and what’s going on, and when you have kids in the future, you’ve got to do whatever you can,” he said.
Aboard the Rock the Vote Road Trip tour bus, Stiller said that it was exciting to see UD students so energized. “The more young people that get out and vote in this election is going to make the difference,” he said. “It’s just great to see that people are so connected and involved in the process. Maybe it just takes times like these for everybody to realize that you have to do something and be part of the solution.”
Stiller also was to appear Thursday night with Crow, the Beastie Boys and Ben Harper as part of the “Get Out and Vote 08” tour stop at Hara Arena. He planned to return home to LA on Friday, Oct. 31, to spend Halloween with his children. Stiller then hoped to rejoin the tour in Colorado, another swing state.
Rock the Vote is a non-partisan organization that registers and turns out voters age 18 to 29.
“I personally am an Obama supporter,” Stiller said. “I got in trouble because I was doing a Rock the Vote interview and I had my Obama sticker on and I didn’t realize it. I almost got tackled,” he said, laughing.
