Barack Obama stretches the definition of political op

Ever since he claimed his strong win Tuesday night in the North Carolina primary (and ceded the nail-biting race in Indiana to Hillary Clinton before most prognosticators), Barack Obama has clearly signaled that he's ready to move on with a general election campaign.

  As part of that, his campaign today announced 14 co-chairs of "Vote for Change," its label for a nationwide voter registration drive. All pretty predictable and routine ... until the list is perused.

Who knew, for instance, that Usher (left) -- the R&B singer and record-label owner, identified in the Obama release by his full name, Usher Raymond IV -- had an interest in the nitty-gritty of political organizing?

Same with band leader Dave Matthews and knockout actress Kerry Washington?

All three will be, according to the campaign, among those who "will oversee the program’s efforts and act as surrogates to boost participation across the country."

The first quote about the effort, in fact, comes from singer Melissa Etheridge (right), who says, “Barack Obama started his career as a community organizer in Chicago, working with communities devastated by plant closings, and after law school he returned to those neighborhoods to register new voters. From the beginning of his career, he’s made change happen by enfranchising people at the grassroots, and that’s what Vote for Change is all about.”

That may well be, but we can't wait to see her, Usher, Matthews and Washington toting regsitration sign-up sheets at shopping centers.

The other co-chairs are more traditional; they include Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Reps. John Barrow of Georgia, Melissa Bean of Illinois and Linda Sanchez of Long Beach (who created a buzz when, on the same day, she endorsed Obama while her sister, Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Santa Ana, announced for Clinton) and Maria Elena Durazo of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

-- Don Frederick

Photo credits: Getty Images (Usher); Lifetime (Etheridge)

Comments

[Jim G.]

So, are we expecting to see Deval Patrick, Claire McCaskill, John Barrow, and Melissa Bean “toting regisitration sign-up sheets at shopping centers?” Or is that patronizing remark only intended for show-business celebrities who don’t work for a living (excluding political know-nothings who don’t work for a living)?

[JVW]

Which one of you media types is going to be the first one to investigate whether these celebrity co-chairs are actually registered to vote? Forgive me for wondering if this isn't akin to when Madonna and Lenny Kravitz and all the other entertainers did "Rock the Vote" plugs for MTV without having bothered to register to vote themselves. Anything for free publicity with the Hollywood crowd.

[Tom J]

This was written over 15 years ago about Obama's voter registration drive for the 1992 election. The Clinton's can keep saying "we don't know enough about him!", but that's not true. He's the real deal, always has been.

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-1993/Vote-of-Confidence/
Vote of Confidence
A huge black turnout in November 1992 altered Chicago's electoral landscape—and raised a new political star: a 31-year-old lawyer named Barack Obama.
By Gretchen Reynolds

[willie in Kansas]

People that don't vote don't have a right to complaint. People that don't vote are responsible for the mishandling of the Iraq war, the home foreclosure/predatory lending crisis, and monopoly on energy. Good for these great American for getting involved. It is great to be an American looking forward to the end of the Bush years. They have been tough for him, and tougher for us. If you don't like how Washington does business, how local government does business change it. People in China and Burma are stuck with the leaders they have. We have leaders the majority of us chose. Obama rocks and so does the USA.

[dave]

panem et circenses. the sinking stage: titanic rig on stormy seas. there's the life boats, and the bright light of the beacon, and the shore. yet they can make it, if they can trust their constitution: says RON PAUL.