The general consensus of 2020 at this point is “What else you got?” True to form 2020 has reached deep into its bag of Black magic and introduced a new wrinkle. On the heels of releasing a new single Wash Us In The Blood Kanye West has announced via Twitter that he is running for president of these United States. Hey. Why not?
The knee-jerk reaction from our friends on the left says that he’s just a plant from the right. His mere presence will do nothing more than split the democratic vote or at very least take a substantial chunk out. Perhaps enough to give Trump a clear path to the end zone. Even Kanye himself said in a Forbes interview he doesn’t especially mind doing so. Logic dictates that he COULD do the same on the right and severely damage President Trump’s re-election bid—but wait a minute.
Isn’t Kanye MAGA’s number 1 poster boy? The Forbes article also says that Kanye is “taking off the red hat” and that he is done supporting the president. So what’s his angle? As for President Trump himself, he seems less than terrified. He’s taking an almost “he can get this work too” stance. The POTUS is quoted as saying Kanye is “too late” and that he would have to view a bid as a “trial run.”
Right Man For the Job?
What exactly are his qualifications? You could easily list rapper/producer/entrepreneur/fashion designer, etc. But, he has no experience in public service. That in itself is not a deal breaker, as it this our current President’s first rodeo as well. He is a devout Christian now, but can he wrestle Evangelicals and the like from the president?
If Kanye has any chance at all he will need to lean heavily on his clout as a legendary figure in hip-hop. The trouble with that is he has spent the last 3 years alienating that base with his shenanigans in pop culture. We ALL remember that unfortunate suggestion he made that “slavery is a choice” and the beating he took for it. Also adding that we haven’t seen a high-profile candidate throw his hat in the ring this late since Ross Perot in 1992.
President Trump might be right. Kanye may just be too late. His situation is certainly less than ideal. It appears he can’t appear on the ballot for 6 states because of his timing. When asked about foreign policy he said, “I haven’t developed it yet. I’m focused on protecting America, first, with our great military. Let’s focus on ourselves first.” So if you’re keeping score we’re 4 months away from elections and he doesn’t know what he thinks about foreign policy.
Is He Serious?
It is not clear just how serious Kanye is. He made it a point to inform us all he still had 30 days. The rap game and politics don’t always mix so well. We saw Jay-Z and P Diddy go to bat for President O’Bama in ‘08 and ‘12. We also saw Killer Mike, T.I., and Cardi B endorse Bernie Sanders. Childish Gambino and Chance the Rapper aligned themselves with Andrew Yang this year.
I don’t know how many votes dope beats and rhymes get you. For Kanye’s sake—let’s hope it’s a lot. What if Kanye can galvanize the young voters that have eluded both Biden and Trump? Under those circumstances, we’d have to consider him a serious candidate. Until then, the late registration of this college dropout makes the White House seem like a dark twisted fantasy.
