P Diddy goes all out

2004-10-25 13:47

New York - Hip-hop mogul Sean "P Diddy" Combs is following the lead of President George W Bush and Sen John Kerry by taking his get-out-the-vote campaign to the swing states.

"If you are going to play the game, you need to play it all the way," Combs said on Saturday. "And if you talking about flexing your power, and you ain't flexing in the swing states, then you ain't flexing your power."

Combs' Citizen Change initiative will launch a three-day get-out-the-vote drive starting on Tuesday in Milwaukee and Detroit, followed by rallies in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Miami. Combs said he will be joined by other celebrities, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio and singer Mary J Blige.

P Diddy started his non-profit, non-partisan initiative earlier this year, saying he wanted to use unconventional means to register thousands of young, minority and urban voters he says are overlooked by politicians.

The Citizen Change campaign has gone to college campuses, urban radio stations, barbershops, nightclubs - "anywhere this community of voters are," Combs said.

Combs' drive - with its Vote or Die slogan - has recorded phone messages for 435 000 new voters across the country.

The initiative also is deploying street teams to mobilise voters, distributing literature and providing troubleshooting for voters before the November 2 election.

Neither Bush nor Kerry have addressed young and urban voters on issues such as jobs, health care and education, Combs said.

"To see one day when (the candidates) talk about the needs and concerns of young people, we have to make sure that we also put the pressure on them in the swing states to recognise that these are the people that are going to put them into office," he said.

On the net:

www.citizenchange.org

- AP