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Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Opinion The Slate Speaks
To stop devolution of our political system, we need more participation Celebrities engaging in politics is nothing new. Dating back even before former-actor-turned-president Ronald Reagan, famous athletes, actors and the like have used their platform to toss their hats into the political ring. Just in recent memory we have seen Arnold Schwarzenegger become governor of California for two terms, former Saturday Night Live writer and media personality Al Franken become a two-term senator for Minnesota, and entrepreneur and reality TV star Donald Trump become the U.S. president. Many of these folks — and those not mentioned — have done well in office. Unfortunately, having a high public profile and big personality does not always fare well in the political realm for others. That’s why when Robert Ritchie — better known as Kid Rock, the artist behind songs such as “Bawitdabaw” and “Cadillac P***y” — confirmed the website kidrockforsenate. com was real on Twitter in July, some were shocked. The site appeared seemingly out of nowhere, offering merchandise with “Kid Rock for U.S. Senate” emblazoned on it for purchase. Ritchie’s irreverent, hard-partying image is what makes him so appealing to his fans. It would also make him appealing to would-be opposition researchers. His lyrics frequently reference his sexual exploits, and his abuse of drugs and alcohol. He has also been in a sex tape and gotten into fights at a club and a Waffle House, according to Politico. Then there are his less-than-savory comments he has made in interviews, like with the New Yorker where he gave his stance on gay marriage, saying “I don’t give a f**k if gay people get married. I don’t love anybody who acts like a f***in’ f****t.” He has since announced that his senate run was a joke, saying in an interview with Howard Stern two weeks ago, “F**k no, I’m not running for Senate! Are you f***ing kidding me? Like, who f***ing couldn’t figure that out?” according to The Washington Post. Apparently, some could not figure that out. Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon kept in touch with Ritchie about his possible run, he was given an endorsement by a former New York Governor and was urged to run by a super PAC leader, according to The Washington Post. Though Ritchie has played his potential candidacy off as a joke,
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The U.S. Capitol building serves as the arena where polarization in politics has been on full display as of late. some do not believe it started that way. al song and dance of Washington politicians So how did a politically toxic man such who only seem to be interested in getting reas Ritchie become a serious candidate in so elected. But celebrities, just like career politimany people’s minds? It is indicative of the cians, are capable of lying, as is indicated by political apathy of the American public. The Ritchie’s senate website. average American does not engage in politics Ritchie, first of all, lied about his potential the way they should in a democracy, as sim- candidacy for publicity preceding his new ply turning out to vote seems to be too much album. He also originally said he would use of a task. We rank 31 out of 35 developed the proceeds for merchandise sold on his countries in votkidrockforseer turnout, so it nate.com web“Our lack of participation in the very is not too much site to invest in democracy we tout to the rest of the a program to of a long shot world has led to a polarized system get people regto suggest that that only allows us to choose the maybe we do not istered to vote. lesser of two evils.” put enough effort Still, no one into choosing our knows where candidates. that money has — The Slate Staff The fact of the gone. Buzzfeed matter is, people reached out to see celebrities as a good alternative to poli- representatives of Ritchie’s, but was unable to ticians when they feel disenfranchised. The receive comment as to where the money has authenticity of a celebrity’s brand seems so gone. Overall, the man who dubbed himself much more when it is put up against the usu- the voice of the blue-collar worker seems to Management slate.ship@gmail.com Troy Okum.................Editor-in-Chief
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have screwed over the people that believed in him. Though we can sit around and complain that Washington does not represent the average citizen, we as voters fail ourselves. Our lack of participation in the very democracy we tout to the rest of the world has led to a polarized system that only allows us to choose the lesser of two evils. It has also left us vulnerable to incidents like that of Ritchie’s, which embarrasses our political system and shows our lack of respect for it. For those who do not cast a vote out of protest, you are part of the problem. It is time for average citizens to step up and use their power to run for office or just simply make their voices heard by voting. The more engagement we get out of the average citizen in our political system, the more representative of the average citizen it will be. It is time to get off of our butts and make change happen.
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