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Petition gaining ground to bring Betty White to the DNC

Posted at 5:31 AM, Sep 05, 2012
and last updated 2012-09-05 05:31:22-04

By Breeanna Hare

CNN

(CNN) — Betty White and President Obama already seem to be fairly good pals – he wished White a happy birthday earlier this year, and she later made a visit to the White House.

Now, fans of the 90-year-old star are hoping she’ll show up to support Obama at the Democratic National Convention this week.

Petitioners have taken to Facebook and Change.org to encourage Dems to let White say a few words of introduction for the president on Thursday in hopes she’ll surpass Clint Eastwood’s chair talk at the Republican National Convention last week.

“Clint Eastwood, the Republican’s ‘mystery guest’ at the RNC, gave a bad name to older Americans everywhere with his absurd and awkward-to-watch introduction of Governor Romney,” the petition on Change.org says. “Take action today if you want to see a real [old] Hollywood icon get a political introduction right!”

At the time of this post, just over 8,300 supporters have signed the Change.org petition, while the Facebook page “Bring Betty White to the DNC” has received 29,602 “likes.”

As of now, though, it doesn’t seem that this will be a mission accomplished. When we checked in on Tuesday to see if this growing campaign could change any plans, a rep for the “Hot in Cleveland” star told us that White, who is currently in production on two shows, “will not be in Charlotte.”

Obama isn’t hurting for Hollywood players, though. Actor Kal Penn of “Harold & Kumar” will host the DNC’s livestream on Thursday starting at 8 p.m. ET.

CNN’s Jennifer Wolfe contributed to this report.

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