will.i.am Campaigns For McAuliffe
Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist, producer and actor will.i.am will campaign 5/11 with VA GOV candidate Terry McAuliffe at events in Portsmouth, Hampton, Richmond and Arlington. During the WH'08 campaign, will.i.am's video (above) about Pres. Obama went viral.
"Terry is my good friend and my closest political mentor," said will.i.am in a statement released by the campaign. "He will be a great governor because of his passion to help people and his understanding of the grassroots community. I look forward to joining him on the campaign trail."
As DNC chair, McAuliffe partnered with will.i.am to encourage youth voters to register, volunteer and go to the polls, according to a campaign release.
With a month before the 6/9 primary contest, the appearance marks an effort by McAuliffe to link up with an activist/artist closely tied -- especially among younger voters -- to Obama; VA backed Obama over McAuliffe's candidate, Hillary Clinton, by 29 points during the Dem primary battle. The announcement comes as Dem Brian Moran, one of three vying for the party's nomination, released an radio ad over the weekend lavishing praise on Obama in his 100th day in office.