Sean Penn endorsed Dennis Kucinich for President, after tipping off news agencies of a major political announcement earlier this week. While his choice of candidate may not suprise many, it should have surprised John Edwards. After all, Penn had already given him twice as many greenback endorsements as Kucinich (via the Political Machine):
Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn endorsed Dennis Kucinich for president in San Francisco Friday.
Penn made what had been billed as a “major political statement” at San Francisco State University.
Andy Juniewicz, National Press Secretary and senior advisor to Kucinich told NBC11 that Penn made the endorsement at an open-to-the-public event sponsored by The San Francisco State College Democrats.
The NBC report includes a slideshow entitled “The Many Faces of Sean Penn”. Well, perhaps we can at least say two-faced. FEC records show that Penn had donated $4,600 to John Edwards — two days after donating $2,300 to Kucinich. Perhaps Penn evened it up in the fourth quarter, but it seems like Penn hasn’t exactly put his money where his mouth is.
Sean Penn is indisputably a fine actor, but he’s also a political albatross. Anyone who pals around with Hugo Chavez should generate considerable skepticism. When the same man already has a track record of defending Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime, he becomes a major liability on the campaign trail. Kucinich won’t mind — right now, he has nowhere to go but up — but Team Edwards must be breathing a sigh of relief.