Latin American Singers Would Like You To Vote For Obama Even If They Can’t
1 July 2008, 11:15 AM. By Alex Alvarez
Following the raging success of the last Latino celebrity-backed campaign for Barack Obama, political powerhouses like Juanes, Los Tigres del Norte and Juan Luis Guerra are backing the candidate at their concerts. Even though, you know. Many of them can’t actually vote in the United States themselves:
Latino superstars such as Juanes, the Colombian rocker, and Los Tigres del Norte from Mexico are urging fans at their concerts to register to vote, while Dominican merengue legend Juan Luis Guerra and Mexican rockers Mana played a benefit concert in Miami in March to benefit a national campaign to increase citizenship and voter registration among Hispanics.
There has been no reported groundswell of support among Latino stars for Republican nominee John McCain.
The question is, of course, whether or not a celebrity endorsement, particularly from celebrities who may or may not be eligible to vote in the U.S, translates into votes. The answer is: “Maybe! If you’re required to wear a special helmet during playtime:”
“The independents are not going to be swayed by videos chanting Obama. They’re going to be swayed by the issues,” said Tico Perez, an Orlando political commentator.
Well, we don’t actually believe that either.
Frankly, we sort of dislike celebrities anyway for their wealth, perceived influence and their seemingly uncontested platform for opinions about things like war and abortion and karma. Add to this the fact that much of the Latin American celebrities publicly backing Obama can’t even vote for him, and the entire situation becomes all the more off-putting. Sure, they could be interested in what the eventual President of the United States has to say about foreign relations, immigration and trade. But we don’t really see that coming through in a message that’s little more than a paltry “Vote for Obama, you Latino.” So when one comes forward in support of a political candidate, it makes us laugh, and then frown in consternation and then want to take a long nap.
We get that these Latin American celebrities are seen as arbiters of taste for a demographic, but, damn. What do they know about the day to day life of the average Latino in the United States? To what extent have they sought to understand and think about the issues a candidate supports or rejects?
And are we the only ones feeling slightly offended that Juanes has taken it upon himself to be our voice?
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They’re not even American citizens! It’s so infuriating to me. I’m not a McCain fan (at all), but I’m even less of a fan of celebrities telling you who to vote for, and even less of a fan of celebrities who are not citizens of a particular country telling you who to vote for in that country’s elections.
Ew.
Juanes: Fuck that guy. Seriously. But Los Tigres, I think, have earned the right to comment on American politics - they’ve kinda been doing it for about 500 albums already (and that’s not counting compilations). Plus, I think they’re all American citizens - don’t they live in California now?
@ jpatrick - Not being a citizen of another country has never stopped Americans from thinking they know what’s best for other countries, has it?
I think they have valid reason to at least comment on the elections. A big chunk of their fan base resides in the U.S. and are therefore very much affected by the outcome of the elections. I think some people take it for granted that we’re all glued to CNN every night or reading a newspaper everyday. There are a large number of people who might not ever hear about a candidate’s position unless told by a family member or someone they particularly look up to (an artist like Juanes in this instance). Everyone was all over Alejandro Sanz’ nuts when he did that “Chavez Sucks” stunt. So what’s the difference? If given a platform, why not use it? Sort of like a certain blogger out there, who given the outlet (Guanabee) hates on a certain latina author without end :) It’s all good though. I can’t stand the chick either and I’ve never even read her stuff. See? Effective.
:)
i guess they can give their opinions but its strange, the french and all of europe we’re also trying to tell us who to vote for last elections olooooooooolllllll
Nader/Gonzales in 2008
I agree with jrod. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion about candidates and everyone can choose who they would like to vote for what is amazing to me that it takes so much for people to register seeing that people are still fighting for rights and equalities.