Betty White to Introduce Obama at Democratic National Convention?

Posted on Sep 2, 2012

White House/Pete Souza

Betty White visits President Obama in the Oval Office in June.

Social media users are mobilizing to try to get Betty White to introduce President Obama at this week’s Democratic National Convention, and the movement is gaining momentum. A Facebook group devoted to the cause has more than 18,000 likes (and counting) as of Sunday evening, while a petition on Change.org has more than 2,000 supporters.

The effort to get the 90-years-young actress began after Clint Eastwood’s awkward, rambling and nonsensical introduction of GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention that involved, among other things, the actor and filmmaker speaking to an empty chair.

According to the Change.org petition, Eastwood, “the Republicans’ ‘mystery guest’ at the RNC, gave a bad name to older Americans everywhere” with the introduction. It says the “Hot in Cleveland” star is the Hollywood icon best suited to getting a “political introduction right.”

In addition to Change.org and Facebook, Twitter has also featured support for the cause (including a series of memes—some of which are quite hilarious—that you can view below).

The actress is a well-known supporter of President Obama, visiting him in the White House in June. She has also previously said she “very, very much favors” Obama getting another term in office.

And as it so happens, White is no stranger to being the center of a social media campaign; two years ago, a successful effort was launched to get the former “Golden Girl” to host “Saturday Night Live.”

Will this one be triumphant as well? Stay tuned to find out.

—Posted by Tracy Bloom.

More Below the Ad

New and Improved Comments

If you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page. Still having problems? Let us know. If you find yourself moderated, take a moment to review our comment policy.