Wyclef Jean is following through on his threats to run for president of Haiti. Even though he’s not qualified and the charity he runs that helps the country might be a sham, there’s a good chance he could win because Haiti has bought, like, all of his albums. From Time:
After days of helping ferry mangled Haitian corpses to morgues, Jean felt as if he’d “finished the journey from my basket in the bulrushes to standing in front of the burning bush,” he told me this week. “I knew I’d have to take the next step.”
And in Haiti, where half the population of about 9 million is under age 25, it’s an asset as golden as a rapper’s chains. Amid Haiti’s gray postquake rubble, Jean is far more popular with that young cohort than their chronically corrupt and inept mainstream politicians are, and he’ll likely galvanize youth participation in the election.
The next step, of course, isn’t helping to rebuild the homes that have been destroyed by the quake but to rule the land with an iron fist. This is the perfect time to swoop in if you think about it. People are still scrambling to get the country back on its feet and amidst the confusion, he’ll be the only name people recognize. I mean, they can’t even pronounce the name of the other guy on the ballot. The ballot being a piece of scrap paper voters throw into a hat.