Charlotte, North Carolina: Hollywood starlets Eva
Longoria, Scarlett Johannson and Kerry Washington took to the convention
stage Thursday to try to persuade American voters to re-elect Barack
Obama.
The trio laid out ordinary early lives far from the bright
lights of Hollywood with Longoria using her previous existence as a
server at fast-food chain Wendy's to have a dig at Obama's Republican
rival Mitt Romney.
"The Eva Longoria who worked at Wendy's
flipping burgers -- she needed a tax break. But the Eva Longoria who
works on movie sets does not," she said, pressing the charge that Romney
is only interested in protecting the rich.
Washington, the 35-year-old star of "Ray" and "The Last King of Scotland" was first up.
"I'm here not just as an actress but as a woman, an African-American, a granddaughter of immigrants," she said.
"A
person who could not have afforded college without the help of student
loans and as one of millions of volunteers working to re-elect President
Obama!"
Next was 27-year-old Johansson, who told of her
hard-scrabble childhood in New York City far from the bright lights of
Hollywood.
"My father barely made enough to get by. We moved
every year, and we finally settled in a housing development for lower
middle income families. We went to public schools and depended on
programs for school transport and lunches, as did most of my friends,"
she said.
Last
on stage as the anticipation built before Obama was due to address the
nation for his biggest re-election pitch yet was "Desperate Housewives"
star Longoria, the co-chair of the president's re-election campaign.
She
resurrected the theme of First Lady Michelle Obama's convention speech
on Tuesday, saying it is life experiences that make you who you are and
drawing a sharp contrast between the president and multi-millionaire
Romney.
"I signed up for financial aid, Pell Grants, work study, anything I could," Longoria said.
"Just
like our president and First Lady, I took out loans to pay for school.
Then I changed oil in a mechanic shop, flipped burgers at Wendy's,
taught aerobics and worked on campus to pay them back.
"We're lucky our president understands the value of American opportunity, because he's lived it!"
Source: NDTV
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