Daddy Yankee and McCain: The World is Speechless

The days of reggaeton fans singing “Da me mas gasolina!” has finally passed; now they are just speechless. Their silence came when Puerto Rican pop star Daddy Yankee announced his endorsement of McCain yesterday at a Phoenix high school.

Numerous bloggers around the world simply posted a picture of McCain and Daddy Yankee standing side-by-side. They include Jordanian-American blogger of Diary of Asoom ^[1], who exclaims:

“Seriously folks….I’m speechless.”

The blogger then forms a small critique. She says:

“I can't decide if it's the stupidest thing Daddy Yankee did or the smartest thing McCain did.”

And then there is one rare blogger: Fellow Puerto Rican, Carlos, who wrote in his blog Scoop This ^[2], that he wasn’t surprised about the endorsement. He explains:

“As a Puerto Rican myself, I believe all Puerto Ricans should vote for conservatives. It is embarrassing that Puerto Ricans support Hillary Clinton and Democrats, when the conservative ideals of faith and family, strongly held by Puerto Ricans, are ignored by Democrats.”

Still in Puerto Rico, Vivirlatino ^[3] is fuming. She says:

“It's not like we expect much from Daddy Yankee politically speaking. Hell, I don't even expect him to be aware of the upcoming presidential elections (unless, of course, he reads VL in between perreos), much less endorse a candidate.”

She takes issue that a Latino is endorsing McCain saying:

So is it all about immigration for Yankee? What about the multiple other McCain policies that hurt — or kill — Latinos, such as his stance on “staying the course” in Iraq? And has he really looked into McCain's immigration policies behind what's obvious on the surface?

Like I said before, I didn't expect much from Daddy Yankee, but nothing would have been better than this. Et tu, Daddy Yankee?

Finally, there is Hispanic Jonathan Torres, who wrote in his blog Social Pundit ^[4], that Republicans and the Latin community actually have much in common.

“This just may be the missing link for John McCain. He’s been tagged as old, disconnected, and most recently… elitist. As ridiculous as this endorsement may seem, I can assure you there’s a boat-load of Hispanics out there right now scratching their heads (I thought we were supposed to vote for the other guy!?). What most Hispanics fail to realize is how much our values are in-line with the conservative/Republican agenda. (FYI: I’m Hispanic) This not only gives him a hint of Latino street-cred, but hooks him up with a bunch of opinionated, young tweens looking to vote for President for the first time. I’m not saying that they WILL vote for him, but I think this will certainly bring Hispanic voters to give him a second look.”

Torres lists that some of the commonalities include: the belief in pro-life, less government welfare programs and “lots of GASOLINA.”

He ends his blog with the fact that something else regarding Daddy Yankee was more shocking to him.

“Ayala (Daddy Yankee) was named by Time magazine in 2006 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.” Really? I’m… I’m speechless.”