Waaaay back in 04', Sean "Diddy/P.Diddy/Puffy/Extreme Impregnator" Combs launched Citizen Change, his nonpartizan organization to encourage voter participation among youth. He was everywhere, from MTV, to Oprah, to CNN, extolling the virtues of the electoral process, and promising to remain engaged. The end result of this campaign was debatable: some say it was pointless hucksterism. Some say Diddy helped spur young GOP voters who kept Bush in office. But most of you prolly just remember those tacky, overpriced Vote or Die T-Shirts.
Still, 4 years later, here we are in the midst of an historic (but then again, aren't they all?) race for the Democratic candidacy, an economy in turmoil, a still sketchy Iraq situation, and the man everyone's looking to for answers (!) is nowhere to be found.
In short, where the heck is Diddy!?!?
Sure, he's still busy being the fake CEO of Bad Boy records. But seriously, who's the last artist that dropped an album from Bad Boy not named Christopher Wallace?
Cassie? Yung Joc? I hear Carl Thomas is working at UPS now. Sheesh.
Can't Stop, Won't Stop, huh?
One area where Combs really can't stop, and better not stop is paying that child support. Dude has done some Shawn Kemp sized babymaking the past couple of years, and coupled with his recent split from his live-in baby moms, he apparently is writing some hellacious checks at the end of each month. One publication suggested this was as much as $100k/month for one of his children's mothers. So, needless to say, the man obviously has more pressing issues to attend to.
Still, completely missing in action when there's a black man and well connected white woman running? How could he pass up the opportunity to sell more of those $45 shirts when the money's right there for the taking? Where is Sean Combs? Noted Hip Hop Journalist Davey D recently blogged about this and shed some light on the whole situation.
...one of the glaring omissions from all this has been Sean 'P-Diddy' Combs. For the life of me I can't figure out why the guy who sold lots of t-shirts, started an organization called Citizen Change and coined the catchy phrase 'Vote or Die' has been M.I.A. Why has Diddy been absent from the hoopla surrounding an election that may go down in history?Interesting read, you may wanna peep it when you get a chance.
We know he caught all sorts of heat after the 2004 election. Most notably from talk show pundits like like MSNBC's Chris Mathews and Fox News'Sean Hannity who both crucified and mocked Diddy. They asserted that the youth vote he sought to deliver did not turn out in high numbers and and as a result he failed to get Bush out of office.
The truth of the matter is that high numbers of young voters did come out. Organizations like CIRCLE bore this out. When Diddy kicked off Citizen Change he said he wanted to get 20 million young voters to the polls. His figures were in synch with other youth oriented organizations. Close to 21 million showed up.
I've not been able to get an answer as to where and why he disappeared off the political landscape. The recent stories that came out around his last album 'Press Play' didn't address that issue except in one instant where he said he vaguely suggested that he was going to return.
The rumor mill and speculations have run the gauntlet with some asserting that he was running out of money and that Citizen Change was just another unnecessary added expense. Others have noted that he was extremely embarrassed by the assessment put upon on by media pundits who claimed he failed. Many have written Diddy off and said that he was never fully committed and that he simply got bored with politics and moved on.
Since we're on the topic though, here's today's question.
Question: Do celebrity endorsements hold any weight with you? Does knowing who your favorite entertainer/athlete/celeb endorses make you see that person differently or does it really make no difference whatsoever?
Weigh in early and often, you know where.
[Editor's Note: Diddy quietly issued a Super Tuesday press release urging young'ins to go vote last week, but still hasn't been seen yet. Don't let that deter you from answering today's question though.]
Where the Hell is Diddy During this Historic Election? [Davey D Blog]
