#CardiB2024?

Recently, hip-hop star, Cardi B expressed an interest in running for public office, and Twitter went crazy. On January 12th Cardi tweeted:

“I think I really want to be a politician. I really love government even tho I don’t agree with Government”

The responses to Cardi’s tweet ranged from supportive, to antagonistic, to sarcastic, and a combination of everything in between. After a slew of responses alluding to the superstar lacking the qualifications to run for public office, She responded by tweeting:

“I do feel like if I go back to school and focus up I can be a part of Congress. I deadass have so much ideas that make sense. I just need a couple years of school and I can shake the table.” 

Love her or hate her, one has to respect the level of self awareness and eagerness to engage in political and civic discourse, not to mention the willingness go through the extensive and intrusive process of running for political office. Now this isn’t the first time she has stepped foot in the public political space. Most recently, she is known for throwing her support behind democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Cardi and Sen. Sanders sat down for a short interview where everything from Healthcare to Economics was covered. While I personally didn’t agree with all of the stances taken during the conversation, I do believe that it is important for Americans to engage in policy and political conversations. Since its inception, America was built on the premise of a robust and respectful exchange of ideas. In her own way, Cardi acknowledged that she still supports that idea. She further tweeted:

“Let me tell you something cause every time I post anything political I get attack all types of crazy. If you are a conservative and you support the opposite party that’s OK (unless you racist) we can get into friendly debates on here voice your opinion.” 

You don’t have to agree with everything she says, but I do think that we can take a page out of her book and invite those we don’t agree with to have respectful and thoughtful discourse about the direction of this country. Sometimes, you will find that you have more in common with those you disagree with than you expected. I personally was surprised by Cardi's stance on Second Amendment rights.

“Listen, I do believe we have the right to bare arms however I do believe in order to get a gun we should get mental check ups, proper training and a older age limit to own one .If the proper age limit to drinking is 21 because these kids can’t handle their liquor how can they ..”

While there is still some daylight between her views and mine on guns, it’s a far cry from Beto O’Rourke’s “Hell yes we’ll take your guns”, and I think that it’s an interesting place to start a conversation. It is through a robust exchange of ideas and civic engagement that we create a country where all have the opportunity to experience what our founding fathers described as inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

At Empower America, we believe that those rights can be fully experienced when we create a society where free market principles are paired with human innovation, when families have access to quality educational options and are allowed to choose what works for them, and when we all work together to ensure that the principles that this nation was founded on continue to persist in the human consciousness. Let’s begin to ask ourselves, “How are we engaging and empowering our fellow Americans to ensure that the American Dream remains alive and well?”