Clay Aiken’s Congress Campaign: American Idol Won’t Sing for Vote

Other famous friends of Aiken’s have been more proactive in their support of his campaign. Arsenio Hall, who beat Aiken on “Celebrity Apprentice,” got Paula Abdul, who once judged Aiken on “American Idol,” to tweet her support. Ruben Studdard, who bested Aiken on “Idol,” cut a radio ad for him during the Democratic primary. And Kathy Griffin, the comedian who for years made Aiken the butt of her jokes—calling him “Miss Gayken” before he came out, then feigning disappointment about never getting to sleep with him once he did—co-hosted a Los Angeles fund-raiser. “I told her, ‘You owe me commission, so it’s time to pay up,’” Aiken says. Even the magician Penn Jillette, who after competing against Aiken on “Celebrity Apprentice” suggested that he’d prefer waterboarding to talking to the singer, chipped in $500 to the campaign.

Associated Press

Not pictured: Paula Abdul, passed out in the back. 

It’s fair to say, then, that Aiken has the battle for C-list celebrity endorsements locked up. And, fortunately for him, his opponent, Renee Ellmers, is not overburdened with raw political talent. Since arriving in Congress in 2010, the former nurse has distinguished herself mostly by sticking her foot in her mouth: Just last month, she advised her male colleagues in the House to quit it already with the pie charts and graphs in budget debates and “bring it down to a woman’s level.” But Ellmers does have one big thing going for her. She’s a Republican incumbent in a Republican district facing off against a Democratic challenger who’s a gay former reality TV star—or, as Ellmers’s spokesperson has unsubtly described Aiken, “a performer whose political views more closely resemble those of San Francisco than Sanford.” She is favored to win.

That has left Aiken working hard to convince voters he’s more than just a piece of pop-cultural ephemera and, in fact, a legitimate product of the second district. Earlier this summer, I met Aiken for lunch at a dairy bar in the aforementioned Sanford after he’d spent the morning meeting with the mayor and reporters at the local newspaper. He was dressed for the occasion in a rough approximation of political casual, wearing a pink-and-green checked Oxford shirt and unlaced wingtips over white ankle socks. Now 35, Aiken has tamer hair and a thicker midsection than he did when he was one of People’s “Sexiest Men Alive” a decade ago. He says he has gained ten pounds in just the last few months. “Do you see how fat I’m getting?” he objected when the waitress asked whether he wanted dessert. Then he ordered the banana pudding.