Dave Matthew's and The Obama Endorsement

Dave Matthew’s Band, a huge favorite among people of all ages, has announced that they are going to endorse Obama in the upcoming election. The band has posted an explanatory letter on their website, which was a strong message that supported Obama. In the letter, Dave Matthews calls out our government, and pinpoints “corporate greed”.  He says that policymaking has been affected by this greed, and it has made it impossible for the people of the United States to have any say so in government issues. Dave Matthews believes Obama can bring the country out of this said “political cronyism”.

This endorsement will boost the popularity of Obama greatly. Dave Matthew’s Band is not just a trendy group that will go out of style in the next few months; their fans are normally lifelong ones who follow the band almost religiously. They have been publicly announcing their candidate choice and encouraging concertgoers to vote for Obama. For example, they hosted a free show in Richmond, Virginia that endorsed Obama’s “last chance for change”. In all recent concerts, they had people who walk around getting people that aren’t already registered to vote to register. This means that there are many, MANY people who were and will be influenced by this endorsement in the upcoming election. 

Of course, the band has every right and privilege to endorse the candidate of their choice; however, it is not politically ethical for fans to vote for Obama just because of the endorsement. Dave Matthews gives a respectful, logical reason in order to vote for Obama; but many of their fans are voting for him only because the band asked them too. This is very characteristic of politics these days. Celebrities endorse candidates that they personally advocate, but don’t push their fans to consider the issues. Elections have become a circus where the ringleaders are the candidates and the electorate is the clowns.

Dave Matthews claims that the government is politically corrupt, but they are only worsening it by pushing their fans to vote for Obama when most do not even know what they are voting for. They aren’t doing the wrong thing, because they are getting more people to vote, but they aren’t necessarily doing the right thing either. It is very important that the citizens of the United States vote for the candidates that have their best interests in mind instead of voting for the candidate with the most celebrity endorsements.