Who needs results to read the results of the GOP nomination when we can turn to Hollywood star celebs to find out which Republicans have been popular in the race? If popularity matters, the man who has been most likable on stage is none other than Ron Paul, the wacky but charismatic leader who has made such colorful remarks on stage during the debates. He has attracted at least one vote from singer Kelly Clarkson of American Idol fame. But did she endorse him not realizing he refused to support civil rights legislation for gays and lesbians that would allow them protection as American citizens not available to them today? Her support of Ron Paul has ignited a GLBT debate.
Singer Kelly Clarkson, the former American Idol winner, tweeted an endorsement for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul and almost immediately began to see repercussions. Longtime fans began to distance themselves from the singer and many demanded that Clarkson answer for some homophobic and racist newsletter remarks that Ron Paul had made back in the 1980s and 1990s said the political section of the New York Daily News. But the bigger headlines can be found in celebrity gossip reports. Many tabloid news websites and mainstream major media entertainment news sources are claiming that Clarkson’s support for Paul may actually have helped boost the sales of her country music albums. Yee-haw, y’all!
Hit Fix is one celeb news website reporting that her album sales are even stronger among her country music fan base now that she’s admitted that she votes Republican.
Expecting her to be a Democrat or Liberal because she is such a perky, do-gooder seems to have hurt her country music fan base sales in the past is the spin red sites are giving it — at least that is what the pro-Republican pundits think.
Noting that Clarkson may have lost some liberal or GLBT fans over the goofy Texas political endorsement, Fox News now claims she may have earned more fans than she lost.
[…] judging from sales of Clarkson’s most recent album “Stronger” since she made her Paul endorsement, the singer has attracted a lot of positive interest as well.
In the past 24 hours, Clarkson’s record is up 192 percent on Amazon.com, according the entertainment site Gossipcop.com, shooting from #41 to #14.
Whether sales have risen as a result of her name being associated with that of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, who is regularly in the news these days, or sales have risen specifically because of the star celeb’s endorsement is unclear.
At least a few people have claimed that they hadn’t heard of the pop singer until she endorsed the Republican presidential candidate (as hard as that is to believe), and at least a few more said they’d stop purchasing Clarkson’s music because of the endorsement (even after the clarification).
For what it’s worth and in her defense, Kelly Clarkson herself said she’d never heard that Ron Paul had been guilty of promoting either racism or homophobia.
Ron Paul has been accused of penning homophobic letters back in the 1990s. Rumor mills are reporting (essentially) the following about the GLBT and civil rights drama emerging, sharing:
Ron Paul continues to take heat for the homophobic, racist newsletters sent in his name in the 1990s.
Asked about the inflammatory materials during an interview with ABC’s Jack Tapper… Paul admitted he wrote parts of the letters – the economic bits – but insists he never penned the “bad sentences” that warned of a “coming race war” and of a “federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS.”
“I wrote a lot of part of the letter, and I’ve never said I didn’t. I wrote some of the — you know, the economic parts. I was not the editor. I was the publisher. And there were some very bad sentences put in. I did not write those. I did not review them,” he said yesterday, before blaming the people who worked for him.
Clarkson, who is a Texas native along with Ron Paul, was quick to clarify her endorsement, saying that she hadn’t intended to offend anyone. Though the star celeb identifies as a Republican, she did mention having “voted Democrat last election,” according to CNN. [Which specific election is up for debate, some may wonder.] But she didn’t go as far as pulling her support for the presidential candidate.
E! Online reports:
“Obviously that was not my intent,” she continued. “I do not support racism. I support gay rights, straight rights, women’s rights, men’s rights, white/black/purple/orange rights. I like Ron Paul because he believes in less government and letting the people (all of us) make the decisions and mold our country. That is all. Out of all of the Republican nominees, he’s my favorite.”
Although she didn’t list a specific gay rights organization that she supports, she is on record as a famous humanitarian who supports UNICEF, STOMP Out Bullying, and other human rights causes.
And whatever Ron Paul may have said in the past, it’s doubtful Clarkson knew about the accusations he was prejudiced against gay people or people of color long before she endorsed him. The news about remarks he made 20 years ago or more hit the presidential rumor mills only recently, most likely drug up by rival Republican candidates Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, or Michelle Bachmann.
Talking about the whole thing makes you miss Great American Conspiracies: JFK, UFOs, and Herman Cain’s booty mystery, really. Can’t they just go ahead and get behind Mitt Romney so Americans who are riding the political fence as registered independent voters can get to figuring out who to vote for already.