On Tuesday morning, Clay Aiken posted a blog on Huff Post-Politics. Titled Why In The World is Clay Aiken on CNN, the article is a well- written piece about the political climate that is part of our world these days.

Clay wrote about the disdain that people from both sides of the political aisle have for politicians and he emphasized the importance of becoming involved in the political process.

The following is one of my favorite parts of the article:

During my 2014 campaign for the U.S. House seat in my North Carolina home district, I spent my time trying to convince remarkably Republican voters to vote for me despite my decidedly progressive views. In a district like mine, a Democrat must win over conservatives to even have a prayer. In fact, if every Democrat in North Carolina’s 2nd District had voted for me, I still would have needed some Republicans to cross over and give me a chance.

And that meant rubbing shoulders with plenty of Tea Party voters. So there I was, gay as Christmas, campaigning at a pig pickin’ where the raffle giveaway was a semiautomatic rifle and the local state senator insisted on calling our president by his full name, Barack Hussein Obama (jingoistic emphasis on the “Hussein”).

Please be sure and read the entire article.  It is very good.  Clay wrote about a serious topic, but used just enough humor to make the reader want to continue to the end.  You can read the entire blog at HUFFPOSTBLOG .  It can also be found on Clay’s website and his Facebook page.

But……the blog was not the only surprise of the day.  Clay was a guest panelist on CNN on Tuesday.  He joined Brooke Baldwin as they talked about Tuesday’s primaries,  the possibility of loss of support for Trump and the success of Bernie Sanders.

As always, Clay was articulate and knowledgable.  He has a way of talking that makes you want to listen.  So far, I have not been able to find a video of the show, but I will continue to look for one.

A big thank-you to ldyjocelyn for sharing some screen-caps:

Between the blog and the appearance on CNN, there was a buzz about Clay on the Internet.  The following are a few of the articles written about Clay on Tuesday:

Politico

Clay Aiken: My mom’s voting for Trump even though he fired me on ‘Apprentice’

By NICK GASS

…During a discussion on CNN Tuesday afternoon, the “American Idol” runner-up, who also finished second on Trump’s show and lost to Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) in the 2014 midterms, said his mom had settled on supporting Trump despite some misgivings…

…”A lot of the people who are supporting Trump are supporting him because he’s not a typical — he’s not a typical politician,” Aiken said during a discussion of American Future Fund Political Action’s latest ad hitting the Republican front-runner on his vulgar language…

You can read the entire article at POLITICO

The News & Observer

Another piece of Clay: Aiken turns CNN pundit

Clay Aiken, the former “American Idol” star, congressional candidate and documentary-series figure, is back in a spotlight of sorts as a political pundit on CNN…

…Referring to himself as “the gay guy from ‘American Idol,’” Aiken said in the Huffington Post piece that he’s back in the media-politics game to represent outsiders like himself.

“This is a real and important conversation, and one I’ve tried to be a part of for the last two years,” Aiken wrote. “So if you see me on CNN, rest assured I’m not there to sing. I’m there to use my unexpected voice in a different way, to speak for the outsiders.”