I love looking on the internet for exciting mentions about Clay…I love it even more when there are many and I can choose which ones to read and share with you!
Democrat Gary Pearce writes a wonderful blog with his republican cohort, Carter Wrenn. It is called Talking About Politics. Today, Gary wrote a short blog about Clay Aiken.
I’ve been in politics longer than Clay Aiken has been alive (38 years vs. 35), but he took me to school this week.Everything I’ve learned tells me that if (A) you’re massively outspent by your opponent and (B) he runs three or four ads to your one and (C) one of those is a negative attack ad that you can’t afford to answer, then (QED) you lose.But Aiken won. (No, the final count isn’t done. But it’s over.)How? Well, some people say it’s just name recognition and personal popularity. Or maybe the Colbert Bump. Or all the Clay fans.But there may be something else here – and a lesson for us all.A couple of analysts have said the campaign relied solely on name recognition. Not true. In the final weeks, short of money, the campaign had one big asset: Clay Aiken and his voice.Not his singing voice. But a voice that showed he knew the issues and the people in his district. A voice that is distinctly different from the stale, bitter rhetoric of other politicians. And, above all, a positive voice in a negative din. Amid the ugly glut of attack ads in the final days, you heard one positive voice: Clay Aiken’s.He also talked to people all over the district. He went on Colbert and MSNBC (true, venues that weren’t available to other politicians). He had a microphone, and he used his voice.And there was one other thing: In an anti-politics age, Aiken was the anti-politician.Don’t underestimate him again. I sure won’t.
GMA/ABC News – Clay Aiken’s Race in North Carolina Too Close to CallIn a race more dramatic in its last moments than an “American Idol” finale, Clay Aiken is locked in a race too close to call in the Democratic primary in North Carolina’s 2nd congressional district.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, the 2003 Idol runner-up was only besting businessman and former state commerce secretary Keith Crisco by 372 votes, according to the Associated Press. A third candidate, family counselor Toni Morris, came in last.
Aiken spoke to supporters late Tuesday night and got a laugh when he said he “prefer(s) it when they just open the envelope and tell you who won.”
“We are comfortable not only with the results we’ve seen this evening. We are comfortable not only with how we’ll feel tomorrow morning, but more than anything we’re comfortable with the way this campaign was run,” Aiken said.
Aiken was outspent by Crisco, who ran four television ads to Aiken’s one, but Aiken may have benefited from higher name recognition. The singer was recently endorsed by the man who beat him over 10 years ago – Ruben Studdard, who tweeted last week he was “proud of my friend” and “we need more people like him in Congress.”…
The article continues so if you would like to read the entire article, click on GMA And, the video at the site is very nice too. They do not allow the video to be embedded here so head over to their site.
All for now…news as it becomes available will be posted here!!