After former "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson expressed support on Twitter for Ron Paul and was castigated via the social media for having done so, her album sales spiked upward.
The singer tweeted, “I love Ron Paul. I liked him a lot during the last republican nomination and no one gave him a chance. If he wins the nomination for the Republican party in 2012 he's got my vote. Too bad he probably won't.”
Clarkson added, "I am a Republican but I actually voted Democrat last election. Ron Paul is about letting people decide, not the government. I am for this."
Conventional wisdom suggests that when a celebrity admits to being a member of the GOP and endorses one of the party’s current presidential nominee hopefuls, it could be bad for his or her career.
However, in this case the singer deftly fielded the criticism that came her way for her endorsement tweet and responded, “I am really sorry if I have offended anyone. Obviously that was not my intent. I do not support racism. I support gay rights, straight rights, women's rights, men's rights, white/black/purple/orange rights. I like Ron Paul because he believes in less government and letting the people (all of us) make the decisions and mold our country. That is all. Out of all of the Republican nominees, he's my favorite.”
After all is said and done it looks as though Clarkson’s political endorsement may end up being a very savvy business decision. Her album sales benefited her in a big way, most likely due to the unusually dedicated supporters of the Paul campaign.
According to the Rolling Stone, the day after Clarkson's endorsement, her album sales surged an astounding 442 percent.
Meanwhile Paul used the Clarkson endorsement at a campaign stop at a high school in west Des Moines.
"Does anybody here know the name Kelly Clarkson?” the Republican presidential candidate asked the audience.
If they didn’t before, they certainly do now.
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