Rappers State Their Affiliations On "Super Tuesday's" Presidential Battle
Feb 06,2008 00:00
by
admin
As voters in 24 states cast their ballots for the Republican and Democratic candidates today (Feb. 5), the world is watching to see if a black man or a woman will become a Presidential nominee.Today's contest, known as "Super Tuesday" for the many states deciding, weighs heavily this competition. While Republican hopeful Senator John McCain is expected to leap ahead of fellow frontrunner Mitt Romney, the Democratic candidates, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are engaged in a closer battle that may not show a clear winner after today's showdown.
The Democratic race has spawned passionate arguments from many within the hip-hop community. As previously reported, Chi-Town rappers Lupe Fiasco and Rhymefest had what amounted to an e-debate, with Fiasco endorsing Clinton and Rhymfest standing behind Obama, who is the senator for Illinois.
G-Unit rapper 50 Cent recently weighed in with his thoughts on the election, telling Fox News that he's pulling for Sen. Clinton.
"I think she could do a good job," 50 said. "There's nothing bad about Obama in my eyes either, but I think Hillary would be my choice. I don't think America is ready to have a black president. I think they might kill him." [Watch Here]
Hip-hop favorites Common and will.i.am are also prominently featured among the actors and musicians endorsing Barack Obama in the "Yes We Can" video, which is comprised of an all-star cast including Scarlett Johansson, John Legend and Nicole Scherzinger, among others, singing and speaking along with a pre-recorded Obama delivering a stirring speech. [Watch Here] New York rappers Talib Kweli and Q-Tip have also sent out statements expressing their faith in the presidential hopeful.
Much of the campaign conversation has zeroed in on the possibilities of the first black or first woman candidate. Many analysts have questioned whether voters are willing to elect either. In a previous poll conducted by, 88 percent of over 1,000 respondents said a candidate's race and gender is no issue, while about 6 percent said they would not vote for a woman or a black man.
In the same survey, 70 percent said Obama will become the Democratic candidate compared to 25 percent who said Clinton would be the nominee. For the Republicans, those surveyed say McCain will beat all with 42 percent predicting he'd be the GOP nominee.