As campaign co-chairs go, Eva Longoria is not exactly, you know, John Sununu. But the Desperate Housewives star is no less dedicated, utterly biased, or occasionally controversial — her re-tweet of a follower calling Mitt Romney “a racist/misogynistic twat” during the second debate caused exactly the stir you would expect in this, the Twitter election. And as President Obama’s cavalcade of celebrities goes — this weekend alone featured Bruce, Stevie Wonder, Katy Perry, Pitbull, and, uh, Dave Matthews on the trail, plus dozens more on the airwaves (Will Ferrell included) — Longoria is certainly more than a (very) pretty face. She knows what she is talking about, and she is desperate for an Obama win, and she will do anything in her considerable power (or at least follower count) to get more people talking about it (or at least voting). So we caught up with the Woman We Love by phone on Friday to talk about the candidates and the issues and the human vagina, which is an issue now, too, apparently, as issues go. Oh, and sports.
ESQUIRE.COM: You were on the trail with the president in Vegas just now. How does he seem to you? Tired? Motivated? Some combination therein?
EVA LONGORIA: No, he’s not tired at all. He looks better now than he did about a year ago. He looked energized and really feeding off the energy of this amazing crowd that’s just fired-up and ready to go. That’s the kind of mode we’re in right now is voter turnout.
ESQ: Right. I noticed I’ve been getting fewer of those e-mails from the campaign, with the vague subject lines, about donations. Was that because of Sandy, or is there a point when fundraising efforts kind of shut down and give way to the full get-out-the-vote thing?
EL: Yeah, this is a different aspect of the campaign from fundraising and voter persuasion. We’re fully engaged in voter turnout and making sure everybody shows up. You know, we don’t want a repeat of the year 2000, when 537 votes determined the national election.
ESQ: I don’t think anybody does.
EL: Yeah, a clear winner in every state would be nice.
ESQ: How do you think Latino turnout will end up? That’s obviously a key demographic for both candidates, and a complicated factor this year — especially if you consider Romney’s positions as opposed to the hard-and-fast breakdown of Bush supporters in that community from 2000.
EL: Bush had a lot more Latino supporters, not only coming from a state with such a large population, but his administration was very close to immigration reform — he got, so far, the farthest. [Laughs.] You know, immigration’s not the number-one issue for Latinos, but Romney has had a strong stance on what he would do about it, from self-deportation to calling the SB1070 law in Arizona a model for the nation.
ESQ: And he seems to have backed off —
EL: Oh, totally!
ESQ: At first he was a big advocate of the DREAM Act — and I know you are, too — then he hedges a bit, and most recently he’s just sort of re-affirming that he would also uphold the president’s executive order on young illegal immigrants. Do you see a lot of that, as this has wound down to the end here, where Romney’s backing down on certain things?
EL: On everything. I don’t know who he is. The guy who ran in the primaries is different from the guy who’s running now. And that’s dangerous, because then you don’t know where that candidate stands, or who he’s going to fight for, and how he’s gonna fight for you. Because, day-to-day, he can change that opinion. For us, it’s great that we’ve had a president who’s had a great track record for women, for Latinos, and for all Americans.
ESQ: Never before in an election have we seen this kind of politicizing of a woman’s body. Since when did vaginas become something we voted on?
EL: I know. I actually agree with you. I don’t think that’s — the number-one concern for women is the economy. Now, the economy overlaps with a lot of issues — health care, and access to birth control, because that does affect your pocketbook.
ESQ: But it just seems strange that the conversation keeps coming back to the definition of rape and things like that — as if women were some interest group or voting bloc. Of course they’re interested in the economy, because women are the biggest voting bloc there is.
EL: Yeah. I think a lot of the “war on women” — quote-unquote — has originated from these fringe candidates on the down ballot who continue to make these preposterous claims. So that’s what keeps it in the zeitgeist, because you have to address some of the things that these candidates are saying.
ESQ: God forbid we actually talk about climate change or something.
EL: I know, but you hit a really good point. Politics need to stop treating women as a special-interest group.
ESQ: Your MoveOn ad with Scarlett Johansson and Kerry Williams kind of centers on Romney’s positions on abortion and invasive procedures and these issues we’ve been talking about. Obviously the three of you are important role models for women and bring a lot of attention to anything you say, but do you think it’s ultimately that effective? Do you think voters actually listen to what celebrities tell them to do?
EL: Well I don’t do what I do as a celebrity. I do what I do as a citizen. People say, Oh, why should I listen to you? You’re an actress. But you could have the same argument of, Well, why are you listening to a dentist? We’re Americans, and what we do isn’t who we are. I know Scarlett has a very specific history with the way she grew up — and Kerry has her American journey as well. And when it came to MoveOn or anything regarding Planned Parenthood, they do this, and I do it, because we’re women and we care about women’s issues. We don’t do it because we’re celebrities.
ESQ: So how do you react when the right-wing bloggers of the world freak out over these MoveOn ads or Lena Dunham sitting in her bedroom endorsing the president? What do you think when you hear this kind of howling from the right as soon as these things go out?
EL: I don’t want to give them the platform.
ESQ: You know, we were looking for — I don’t want to call you a celebrity — higher-profile supporters from the Romney camp to speak with us as a kind of flip-side to your take, and we couldn’t really find any. I mean there’s Kid Rock, I guess, but what do you think it is about this president as opposed to even, say, Bill Clinton that draws everyone from you and Scarlett to Jay-Z and Bruce?
EL: Everybody’s engaged, sure, but everybody, I think, cares deeply about this country, whether you’re a celebrity or a dentist or a lawyer. And when I — I can only speak for myself, I can’t speak for all of Hollywood — I see in the president a president who’s progressive, who wants to move this country forward —
ESQ: So what do you think’s gonna happen? Is this an endless week we’ve got ahead here, or is Tuesday gonna be an early night?
EL: I’m hoping it’s an early night! [Laughs.] Many of the swing states are on the east coast, so I’m hoping we’ll know fairly quickly and we’ll be celebrating.
ESQ: I think we’re all hoping for a little sleep. Gotta ask you before you go: Are you doing to get into basketball a little more now that the season’s started? The Jets, I can say both metaphorically and not, are suddenly a lot less interesting….
EL: [Laughs.] I always watch basketball. I’m still a big Spurs fan.
ESQ: That’s good. It would be kind of a sell-out move for you to all of a sudden become a Lakers fan… now that they’ve got Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.
EL: No, no, no. Never.
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