SURVEY RESULTS: Do you consider a politician a celebrity?

83% of you said NO. 

For the first time, the survey results really surprised me. 

If a person is on TV, radio, and constantly in newspapers and magazines, wouldn’t you consider them a celebrity?  

The reason I came up with this survey question is our very own Mayor Butler, who told me, in no uncertain terms, that he was not a celebrity. I was shocked by that statement. 

So, I started asking around, and found that most people responded just like you. I asked about six people before someone agreed with me that a politician is absolutely a celebrity.

I went back to that person to tell him how the survey was shaping up, and asked if he had any idea why so many people believe that a politician is not a celebrity. He said that most people only consider entertainers and athletes celebrities and are not used to the word celebrity being used to describe anyone outside of those professions. 

To make sure I was on the right page, I looked up celebrity in a couple dictionaries. 

Oxford defines celebrity as a famous person. The state of being well known.

Merriam-Webster defines celebrity as distinguished, renowned, famous, noted, illustrious, notorious. That means that even famous bad people are considered celebrities, by definition.


Obviously, Mayor Butler's celebrity is not as great as President Obama's, but I consider them both celebrities. Charles Barkley didn't consider himself a role model, but many young people still looked up to him as one. 

I’m curious why so many people don’t consider a politician a celebrity. 

Please share your thoughts.