With as much energy as the adorable Shih Tzu puppy she was holding, Kerry Washington’s smile lit up the Hollywood set of the dipdive.com “We Are The Ones” video supporting Barack Obama. The 31-year-old actress has been extremely active in Obama’s presidential campaign, following his trail from South Carolina to California, Colorado, Tennessee, Arkansas and Wisconsin. “I’ve been a surrogate for Barack Obama,” she smiled. “I’m heading to Texas and Ohio next week.”

As an enthusiastic political participant, Washington has strong opinions on what makes the Illinois Senator so exceptional. “He’s bringing people to the table who have never been involved before,” she raved. “He inspires people to participate.”

Washington is just one example of the many people that Obama has stirred, as he turns hope into reality on the political horizon. Washington’s Fantastic Four co-star Jessica Alba was also on hand to show her support. “I think he has the clearest idea of the changes he’s going to make when he comes into office,” the pregnant actress opined. “He seems to be connected to the people and the needs of the people in our country.”

Because she’s only a few months from bringing a child into the world, it made sense that Alba spoke the most passionately about Obama’s stance on youth education and health care reform. “There’s no way to have our country thrive if we’re not educating kids in our country properly,” she said. “And we need better health care across the board. It’s terribly expensive and not very good compared to other countries that don’t have nearly the amount of money we have.”

Although other Democratic presidential candidates have similar views on necessary reformations, Alba thinks that Obama’s dedication to the American public distinguishes him from the rest. “He’s about seeing real change and he has the people’s interests — as opposed to big business — truly in mind. I think most of his money comes from private money so he’s not relying on huge corporations to fund his campaign and back him as much as the other candidates.”

Kerry Washington, on the other hand, believes in Obama’s integrity. “What inspired me to become involved in his campaign is that he brings an enormous amount of authenticity to the table,” she smiled proudly.

Although the two actresses have different reasons why they believe that Obama should become our nation’s next president, they both agree on one thing; “He’s about uniting the country,” said Alba, echoing a sentiment that Washington also spoke about. “That’s a big deal.” — Erin Darling