14 DAY TRIAL // This surprise announcement made by musician Clay Aiken that he's running for a seat in the Congress for North Carolina might take some of you aback, but it's actually what he's previously hinted at.
Now it's official, thanks to an announcement on his personal website. On it, the singer has posted a video in which he talks about some of the motives that pushed him to make this important decision.
A democrat himself, Aiken goes on to talk about his early life's tribulations. He and his mother were forced to take refuge in a friend's home from his abusive father. He uses this example to say that he now wants to help families going through the same issues as a member of Congress.
With a smile on his face, Aiken admits “I'm not a politician. I don't ever want to be on. But I don wat to help bring back, at least to my corner of North Carolina, the idea that someone can go to Washington to represent all the people, whether they voted for you or not.”
“More families are struggling today than at any time in our history. And here in North Carolina, we've suffered more than our share of pain,” Aiken says in his campaign video, trying to reach out to a wider audience.
His former official positions include a two-year term on the Presidential Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities in 2006 under President George W. Bush.
Aiken mentions this stint by saying “That was when I first realized that our problems won't be solved by only one party or the other,” wanting to separate himself from the political class in what is an attempt to win his position as “one of the people.”
It remains to be seen what response this will draw from his constituency, although members from the political circles don't necessarily have a high opinion of the former American Idol winner.
