On Sunday night, in between a cavalcade of Democratic candidates and the president and first lady, R&B musician John Legend performed for the estimated 35,000 attendees at the rally on the Oval.
Legend is not a Democratic nominee for any position. But he is quite the Democrat. He has opened for President Barack Obama at many events, and Obama refers to him as a “friend.”
Legend is also the head of a nonprofit organization, the Show Me Campaign, which pushes for advancement of education in the U.S., an issue that is pretty high on the Democratic checklist right now. He backs up the Democratic ideas he talks about, which is good. Best of luck to him.
Some other Obama supporters aren’t quite there yet. Rapper T.I. was a vocal supporter of Obama during the 2008 election. The musician, a supporter of a political party that aims for strict gun control, was arrested in 2007 for federal weapons charges.
Jay-Z is another hip-hop star who makes his support for Obama and the Democratic Party clear, in person at least. His lyrics are not so clear.
“I can’t help the poor if I’m one of them,” he says in the song “Moment of Clarity.” “So I got rich and gave back to me, that’s the win-win.”
Doesn’t sound much like the party that’s pushing for Wall Street reform.
The problem isn’t so much that musicians like T.I. or Jay-Z are actually Republicans. I’m sure the number of issues that each leans left on far outweighs those leaning right. The problem is the failure of musicians to admit the other party might have a point on certain issues.
The same is equally true of musicians who are avid Republican Party supporters. Toby Keith has admitted that he enjoys marijuana (in the comical track, “I’ll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again”); but the odds of him suggesting that socially liberal drug-legalization policies like those in California are a good idea are slim, especially if it counteracts his red-blooded persona.
It’s no surprise to anyone that left-wing celebrities outnumber right-wing ones, however. The reasoning for this doesn’t lie in political philosophy.
It’s just not cool to be Republican.
I swear to you, I am as middle ground as they come, so this isn’t a tirade against Democratic or Republican policy. But I have witnessed students deny their Republican sympathies to fit in with the crowd at OSU, just like I have seen people deny their Democratic sympathies to fit in with the crowd in Cincinnati, the bastion of Ohio conservatism.
Human beings are conformists by nature. We tend to believe what our friends believe, what our parents believe and what our favorite musicians believe. I’ll admit, even with my neutral stance, I feel like raging against the machine after I listen to Rage Against The Machine.
While in line to enter the rally yesterday, I listened to a group of girls discuss how excited they were to see John Legend, both at the rally and then at the Ohio Union for his talk on education. One said she might even leave the rally early to get a good seat for his second appearance.
People like this, who would gladly sacrifice a chance to see one of the best orators of our time to see a touring musician twice in one day, presumably don’t vote based on candidates’ stances on issues. They see red. They see blue. They see what John Legend tells them to.
John Legend is ambitious and admirable in his pursuit of his ideals. You should strive to imitate him in that ambition. Just remember that you don’t have to imitate his goals.
