Kelly Clarkson Got Political: Why That Might Be a Good Thing
See, my beloved Kelly Clarkson got herself into a little trouble last week when she tweeted her support of Republican political candidate Ron Paul, whose conservative and frequently controversial beliefs don't sit well with many of Kelly's fans and followers. An ugly scene unfolded on Twitter, as millions of users (okay, maybe just me) sat captivated as the ish got real.
But behind these hazel eyes (really, my eyes actually are hazel, you guys!) lies a Kelly Clarkson fan whose support is unwavering, no matter how divisive her politics might be. This week, I'm examining why Kelly's political blunder may not be such a bad thing after all. I mean, it didn't kill her. In fact, it may have just made her stronger.
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There are many reasons to love Kelly Clarkson: her humble and endlessly likable public persona, her unabashed refusal to conform to the size-0 norm typical among pop stars at her lev! el of fa me, her willingness to speak out about industry tomfoolery amidst a climate of deferential silence, and, oh, the fact that her music is consistently, unrelentingly amazing. Whether she's making slick dance-pop or confessional, grungy ballads, there's an element of honesty in Kelly's music; even if she's assumed a broad range of styles and sounds over the last decade, she's never been anything but genuine.
What's more impressive is that she's managed to maintain that authenticity while keeping her private life exactly that -- private. She's said publicly that she hates talking about herself; you're likelier to find her roaming around her native Texas than nosing around at Fred Segal in a bid for paparazzi attention. And when was the last time she talked publicly about a romantic relationship? Kelly keeps it professional while staying real, a seemingly impossible compromise that she's maneuvered fairly gracefully throughout her career.
That made the fallout surrounding her Ron Paul tweet last week all the more frustrating. The tweet itself is fairly innocuous stuff -- "if he wins the nomination for the Republican party in 2012 he's got my vote. Too bad he probably won't," she wrote last Wednesday night -- but fans responded in droves, sending out vehement and largely hateful messages about Ron Paul's political leanings, specifically on gay rights, the death penalty, and conjecture about Ron Paul's racism. After being swarmed with messages denouncing both Ron Paul and Kelly herself for supporting him (Ron Paul supporters caused a spike in Kelly's album sales, by the way), she later tweeted that she advocates for "gay rights, straight rights, women's rights, men's rights, white/black/purple/orange rights" and that she supports Ron Paul "because he believes in less government and letting the people! (all of us) make the decisions and mold our country."
+ Read more about Kelly Clarkson's political plight after the jump.
I'll readily plead ignorance on the particulars of Ron Paul's beliefs, since I tend to be way more concerned with the labyrinthine social politics playing out this season on "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" than with the Republican candidates in the 2012 election. But I'm standing proud on my authority on Kelly, whom I feel fairly certain had no malicious intent when she sent out that tweet. If anything, it merely shows a lack of sensitivity toward her liberal fan base, who were entirely justified in feeling betrayed by Kelly's support of a candidate who has a reputation for less-than-savory attitudes toward the gay community and a woman's right to choose.
But, listen. What's key here is that Kelly did what she's always done: She was honest about how she felt. Her issues with RCA label head Clive Davis are notorious and well-documented; when she made her gloomy self-penned masterpiece of an album, My December, it was public knowledge that her label wasn't happy with the record, because Kelly herself admitted that very fact. In 2008, when she cut "Already Gone" with super-producer Ryan Tedder and, later, Beyonce's song "Halo" bore a striking similarity to Kelly's earlier song, she was vocal about her frustration, discussing it candidly in an interview. Now, Ron-Paul-Kelly-Clarkson-Tweet-Gate 2011 (I'm copyrighting that, by the way) follows in those footsteps insofar as it's an example of Kelly refusing to shut up where her less courageous peers might have, which, as far as I'm con! cerned, is worth congratulating, not attacking.
If we love Kelly for her authenticity, it's hypocritical to expect her to self-censor about her political beliefs, especially when that uninhibited attitude is precisely what makes her music so engaging. Whether or not I agree with her, I can't fault her for speaking for mind -- not when it's what she's always done best.
For more on the upcoming election, check out MTV's Power of 12.
Sam Lansky is a writer and editor from New York City. He goes hard for Swedish pop music, "Real Housewives" GIFs and juice. Follow him on Twitter or Tumblr.
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