The Penn

Media Credit: Ben Jewart/The Penn

Previous celebrity endorsers at IUP for political candidates were not able to attract the same mixture of students as Sean Astin did while stumping for Clinton on Sunday. He spoke to undecided voters, Clinton and Obama supporters and hobbit fans alike about the candidate he called "tenacious (and) compassionate."

In fact, Obama supporters and undecided voters outnumbered Clinton supporters among the 30-some audience members in the HUB Susquehanna Room. That number did not appear to have changed when Astin asked at the end of his speech if anyone had been persuaded to vote for Clinton that afternoon.

No hands were raised, but audience members still lined up afterward for autographs and photos with Astin, who performed in the "Lord of the Rings," "Rudy" and the "Goonies."

The Clinton campaign arranged Astin's visit to IUP after a campaign intern said Astin had stumped for Clinton at several places across Pennsylvania including Carlisle, Wilkes-Barre, Willamsport, Philadelphia and Allentown. After hitting IUP, Astin and the campaign were on their way to Seton Hill University in Greensburg.

"For an hour on a Sunday, it just focused people's attention on issues," Astin said of the benefit of celebrity political endorsements. "When passionate people come and speak about things they feel passionate about, I think the energy transfers."

Throughout his speech and question/answer session, he spoke quickly and emphatically, ignoring the podium in favor of standing closer to the audience.

Before praising Clinton's abilities and stances, he offered up praise for her competitors, saying he "respects" McCain and that "there is a lot about [Obama] I find inspiring."

In response to one student who said he was concerned about student debt, he described Clinton's plans to strengthen and create programs forgiving college debt in exchange for one or two years of public service to the country. He also talked about her plans to cut down predatory interest rates on college loans.

He also called much Clinton backlash "sexist."

"If some of the things that were said about her were said about another woman in our society, there'd be a lawsuit," he said. "If some of the things that were said about her were said about a man in our society, there'd be a fistfight."

Steven Luhr (freshman, English/political science) said he was surprised more Clinton supporters were not there and was more impressed by Astin's passion than his acting credentials.

"He has a really great command of the issues," he said. "Also, for him, [endorsing a political candidate] is not just because of a trend. He's passionate about it."

"Lord of the Rings" fan John Bonanno (junior, undeclared) said he came because he wanted to meet Sean Astin, but was also interested in what he had to say.

"It made me feel like I should be more attentive," he said.

Another fan of the trilogy, Stephen Luciano (freshman, biology), said he was interested in hearing the views of a Clinton supporter.

"I'm not necessarily a Hillary supporter, but it made me reconsider my opinions," he said.

Obama supporter and "Lord of the Rings" fan Sean Osman (junior, political science) called Astin "articulate," but said he hasn't changed his mind.

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