Liberals in Hollywood who supported Democratic Senate and House candidates are deep in their cups today.  Most of the politicians they backed went down to defeat – including a member of the Kennedy family running for LA County supervisor.

Hollywood Reporter:

As the news started to sink in that the Republicans were back in control of the Senate — and Jeffrey Katzenberg's archnemesis McConnell would be leading the charge — Hollywood politicos turned their attention to Bobby Shriver, the industry pick to replace longtime Los Angeles County supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who was forced to retire because of term limits.

The scion of American political royalty had received thousands of dollars in Hollywood campaign contributions in his effort to represent the Westside of Los Angeles and parts of the San Fernando Valley on the Board of Supervisors.

His campaign finance report read like a list of Oscar attendees. Among the donors: Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, J.J. Abrams, Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jimmy Iovine, Warren Beatty, Jessica Alba, Chris O'Donnell, Rob Lowe, Larry David, Ted Danson, Joan Cusack, Harvey Keitel and Michael Douglas.

But just before 4 a.m. L.A. time, Shriver was officially defeated by onetime TV star Shiela Kuehl, now a veteran Sacramento lawmaker whose campaign was heavily supported by organized labor. Shriver got just more than 47.2 percent of the vote, compared to his opponent's nearly 52.8 percent. His loss was a sort of coup de grace for Hollywood's political efforts this season.

Tennis Channel chief Ken Solomon said he and his fellow Hollywood fundraisers realized in recent weeks that their candidates were in trouble. As Barbra Streisand sent out a donation plea to Democratic fundraisers across the country, industry politicos began to prepare themselves for a losing battle.

"It was the worst election map since Eisenhower," Solomon said. "We all put on our body armor and were waiting for this explosion. Now we just need to move forward."

Too bad.  No invites to Hyannisport for you guys.

As a former professional actor (a million years ago), I can tell you that most actors are laughably uninformed ditzes.  What possesses them to believe they can influence ordinary people to vote a certain way?  Even their star-struck fans don't pay much attention to their political beliefs.

As we've seen with President Obama, politicians as celebrities have little staying power.  Ronald Reagan had genuine political cred because he had spent 25 years of his life writing, speaking, and thinking about politics and policy.  Your typical Hollywood liberal thinks himself informed if he reads garbage in some left-wing rag and spouts inanities about complex issues.  Matt Damon knows less about fracking than your average West Texas wildcatter.  But he made a movie about it, so he's an expert.

Sheesh.