Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Jamie McCarthy/WireImageWhat's this about Chuck Norris campaigning for Newt Gingrich? I didn't know there were any Republicans in Hollywood.
—Chuck Norris Does Not Need Your Answers, via the inbox
Oh, come on. If Chuck Norris spoke unto peons like us, Chuck Norris would tell you that Newt Gingrich campaigns for Chuck Norris, not the other way around.
Or maybe not, because Norris really is helping out with the Gingrich campaign. And he's not alone, at least, in his Republican politics:
He is joined on the GOP side of things by, quite possibly, none other than Jessica Simpson. Simpson endorsed George W. Bush for president in 2004. Simpson's Dad confirmed to the press several years ago that the singer-turned-entrepreneur "loves the heck out of" Bush. It's unclear whether Simpson has since changed her politics, but there are plenty more where that came from.
The Hollywood Congress of Republicans, a local chapter of the state's Republican party, maintains a list on its official site of celebrities who, it says, share GOP views. The list includes Kelsey Grammer, who endorsed Michelle Bachmann before she suspended her presidential bid recently.
Other performers on HCR's list: Adam Sandler, who donated to Rudy Giuliani's campaign in 2007, and Heather Locklear, who once spoke at a campaign event for Republican Congressional candidate Randy Hoffman.
There are others on the list, younger and hipper people, even, but I wasn't able to independently confirm any particularly Republican leaning—former or current—among them.
"It looks pretty accurate as far as Republicans/Conservatives in the business goes," HCR's Mell Flynn tells me of the current list. "Keep in mind, some of these people do not want it to be common knowledge where they stand politically. Most conservatives in Hollywood try to remain 'in the closet'."
One other nugget worth mentioning: It looks like Iron Man may favor the elephant as well, but it's less than totally clear. Robert Downey Jr. once told the New York Times:
"I have a really interesting political point of view, and it's not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can't go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can't. I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics every since."
What does it mean? Let me know what you think in the comments!