Alex "Rube" Rubin doesn't have a legion of fans breathlessly awaiting his next single -- at least not yet. He's just a white guy living in a mostly Hispanic city using hip-hop to back our black president. Sounds about right for South Florida.
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But in his latest video, Rubin aims for political relevancy. In "Hold On," while wearing an American-flag-print bow tie and geek glasses, he takes a whack at Mitt Romney on behalf of all poor and middle-class Miamians:
A sample of Rubin's lyrics:
This is great! I can't wait you get ate up in debatesRubin tells Riptide that he was moved to make the video by two things: (1) the recent death of Alex Okrent, a high school friend who worked on Obama's campaign, and (2) Mitt Romney's divisive campaign comments about the "47 percent."
November's coming quick one thing you cannot buy is fate
And peep this crowd I got with me we aint here to joke
I've got the nation behind me Willard we all here to vote
Last week a tape emerged in which Romney told wealthy Republican donors that there are "47 percent [of Americans] who are with [Obama], who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing."
"As a corporate upper-middle-class white male, I find it very revealing and unfortunate that Romney's crowds are virtually all white people who oftentimes seem angry," Rubin says.
"In 2004, we saw what happens when conservatives have the money to control the message, as the history of John Kerry's valor in the Vietnam War was revised to become cowardice," he adds. "I saw similarly disturbing trends, and so I took it upon myself to influence the message the best way I know how to -- without using any campaign money."
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