Heidi Montag, starlette of the television series The Hills, announced this month that, come fall, she will cast her vote for John McCain. Although the 21-year-old endorsement by itself is unremarkable, McCain’s pursuant response is worth noting.

“That was pretty good wasn’t it? She’s a very talented actress,” McCain said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program. The anchor, Joe Scarborough, responded, “I wish she would endorse me…she looks like a good actress” McCain tactfully refrained from chuckling, but added, “Could I just mention Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, and Jon Voight? I’ve got them.” Scarborough nodded, “Yeah, well, you’ve got the tough guys too.”

Is this a political campaign or a fantasy baseball team?

Celebrity endorsements are standard fare these days: Angelina Jolie, Hugh Hefner, and Tina Fey have all come out for Clinton. Obama counts Jennifer Aniston, Robert De Niro and, the big one, Oprah, among his supporters.

Still, train a critical eye on the candidates’ reactions to these endorsements and it seems they’ve forgotten where to draw the line between campaigning and marketing. We’ve got McCain touting his tough guy/cute girl line up of supporters like he’s picking kids for dodge ball. There’s Clinton, who, within a mere week after being endorsed by Tina Fey, appeared in the notorious Saturday Night Live skit with Amy Poehler dressed as her doppelganger. Obama (who at least had the decency not to directly appear alongside his celebrities) has a glossy endorsement music video splicing clips of his stump speeches with footage of will i am and Scarlett Johansson singing his praises, literally.

As reprehensible as it is for Tina Fey to think I’m going to vote for Clinton because she tells me to on national television, isn’t it worse that Clinton vindicates and participates in that behavior by appearing on the show? Or that Obama’s face is superimposed alongside ScaJo? Or that McCain jokes about watching The Hills? Whatever happened to giving a gracious, political nod of thanks?

That being said, I think it’s good news that these inadvertent role models are demonstrative in their political interest and activity. If the public wants to follow their lead by voting instead of emulating their style then that’s great (as long as no one is imitating their votes…). The more active voters this country has the better. It seems, however, that Montag will have to go a few steps further if she wants to set a good, democratic example, as recent reports have revealed that, despite the endorsement, she isn’t actually registered to vote.