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For Immediate Release
August 6, 2003
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education,
(919) 839-1200

He May Be Our American Idol, But Is Clay Aiken a North Carolina Icon?

RALEIGH - The American Idol concert scheduled for Wednesday night in Raleigh is sure to further launch Clay Aiken’s already rising star. The Raleigh-born pop phenom who captured the country’s attention earlier this year has already started moving in (bipartisan) political circles: earlier this year he sang for Governor Mike Easley at the Old Capitol building in Raleigh, and recently he sang “Happy Birthday” to US Senator Elizabeth Dole in Washington, DC.

But a recent survey by the NC Center for Voter Education finds that Clay Aiken still has hearts and minds he will need to convert in order to enter the popular mythology of North Carolina personalities like Dean Smith or Andy Griffith.

The survey asked 1,200 North Carolina voters to rate a handful of public figures and institutions on a 1 to 5 scale where a 5 means the voter cares a lot about the views of that person. Respondents were also given the option of saying they had not heard of the person or institution.

How did Aiken fare? Amazingly, 41 percent of North Carolinians confessed to either not knowing who he is or not having a view on him. (For the record, Ruben Studdard, who narrowly trumped Aiken on the final night of American Idol, was not recognized by 47percent of those polled).

“It seems hard to believe that that many people haven’t heard of Clay,” said Chris Heagarty, the Center’s director. “Then again, that means almost 60 percent of North Carolinians do know who he is, and I doubt 1 percent knew who he was a year ago.”

Aiken’s stardom, though, is still a long way from the broad popular appeal that Andy Griffith holds, according to the survey. Only 13 percent of those polled did not know who Griffith is, and 40 percent of those who offered an opinion on Griffith give him the highest grade (a 5 out of 5).

Why is the NC Center for Voter Education interested in the appeal of local celebrities?

“Increasingly, we are seeing celebrities used to promote other causes, including political causes," Heagarty explained, citing campaign advertisements used in the 2000 campaigns for governor that featured both Griffith and Smith.

"In a way, it could be looked at as discouraging, that some voters pay more attention to people in show business than politicians" he added, noting that despite all of the media attention surrounding former NC Commissioner of Agriculture Meg Scott Phipps and her resignation following charges of illegal campaign conduct, almost 47 percent of state voters still have no idea who she is. (Those who were paying attention disapproved of her much more than Aiken rival Rueben Studdard).

"But as much attention as celebrities do receive, most voters ultimately are more concerned with what their elected officials say," Heagarty concluded, pointing to the findings that Elizabeth Dole was recognized by more than 90 percent of respondents, and that people value her opinion by a ratio of greater than 2 to 1.

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