The day after Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination for president, 2003 “American Idol” winner Ruben Studdard was downright giddy about the occasion.
“I think it’s great!” Studdard told Yeas & Nays, adding that he watched Tuesday’s election coverage while — you guessed it — grabbing some grub at Legal Seafoods. “I never thought I’d see an African-American being a clear
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choice for president.” Studdard says that Obama cancount on his vote in November, and he’s even willing and able to perform at Obama’s inauguration if asked (”Are you kidding me?!? I would love to!”).
“But I hope people look at him as more than just an African-American and see what he has to offer as a person,” he said.
We caught up with Studdard at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday as he prepared for his performance that night at the 2008 Bradley Prizes.
The crowd included a strong roster of A-list conservatives, most notably former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (the Bradley Foundation, which funds the awards, “is devoted to strengthening American democratic capitalism”). But despite the audience, Studdard wasn’t about to be converted: “I’m a Democrat,” he stated with pride. “But being from the South, I’m conservative on some things and liberal on others.”
In fact, Studdard had nothing but affection for the current president, whom he’s met on previous trips to Washington.
“He’s a really cool guy,” he said. “He reminds me a lot of the guys I went to high school with. … He’s just a cool, down-to-earth, good ’ol boy. … He’s always laughing.”
The recipients of the Bradley Prizes, which carry a $250,000 stipend each, were: University of Chicago economics professor Gary S. Becker, the Hoover Institution’s Victor Davis Hanson, University of Pennsylvania history professor Alan Charles Kors, and Robert L. Woodson Sr., president of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise.
