Carson Campaign Launches Rap Ad Targeting African-American Voters

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson speaks during a news conference about healthcare issues, Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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Ben Carson’s campaign is launching a new ad featuring a Carson-themed rap song in a move to attract African-American votes, ABC News reported.

Carson himself doesn’t rap in the 60-second radio spot, which will play for two weeks in Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, Birmingham, Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi, Memphis, Tennessee, and Little Rock, Arkansas. A rapper named Aspiring Mogul raps, “Vote and support Ben Carson for our next president and be awesome,” over clips of Carson remarks about freedom and personal responsibility.

The $150,000 radio ad buy is one of what the Carson campaign told ABC News will be a number of measures to reach the urban demographic and particularly black voters.

“This happens to be a group that we feel pretty strongly is ready and prepared to start working for Ben Carson,” Carson campaign spokesman Doug Watts told ABC News.

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Notable Replies

  1. Wrong beat for this decade, should have used Zeytoven with Migos on the track, and a random shout out from GUCCIIIIIII.

    But, he couldn’t afford that.

  2. Maybe actually caring about Black issues would work better than treating them like rap-addled idiots…

  3. Avatar for vonq vonq says:

    Whose f***king money is he wasting now?

  4. Why is he doing this? Republicans have told us for years that black folk vote for the black candidate because black. So he should have that “group” in the bag right?

  5. I’ll be perfectly honest: I find the whole GOP/Teatrolls theory that black people vote based entirely on race and not policy abhorrent, BUT I do wonder whether a study would show that minorities are measurably more receptive to policies and ideology when presented by someone of their own race who is running against a white opponent. It seems likely true for people in general, irrespective of minority status, but for obvious reasons I’d be curious whether and how the effect manifests in minority populations. Any know of any studies?

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