P. Diddy: Minorities, youths could decide election
(CNN) -- Hip-hop impresario Sean "P. Diddy" Combs launched a movement Tuesday to encourage young and minority citizens to register and vote. CNN's Judy Woodruff asked Combs why a successful entertainer and businessman would worry about getting people registered to vote.
COMBS: To be honest, I've been blessed with a talent to be able to market and communicate, to be able to synergize and energize young people, and to be honest, my success is due to them, to young people and to the minority community that have supported me over the years.
And over the last couple of years I've been -- I've gotten educated myself on the election process, and I feel like this year is going to be one of the biggest elections of our lives and in history.
And it's important that issues dealing with the young people, 18-to-30, 18-to-34 -- if you want to even extend it that wide in the minority communities that really need the help -- those issues need to be addressed, but those issues will not be addressed if we don't stand up and vote.
And it's really just hipping the young people, any minority communities, to the way the political games are played.
WOODRUFF: The percentage of young people who voted in 2000 was something like half that of older people. All of the experts say young people don't feel they have anything at stake. They don't pay taxes at the rate their elders do. So how do you motivate them?
COMBS: One of the reasons why young people are so disenfranchised is because politicians don't speak their language. They don't deal with issues that deal with them, but now all of that's about to change because as you've seen in today's polls, it's neck and neck.
So this community has the power to be the deciding factor in who is the next president of the United States. And we're going to do this by a well-thought-out plan. We're going to use all of my marketing skills and my relationships to make sure that we make this vote relevant, that we make it something that's important, and we make it cool and we make it sexy.
WOODRUFF: Your friend, the music mogul Russell Simmons, has said that [presumptive Democratic nominee] John Kerry is taking the black vote for granted. He said that's why people are giving a serious look at [independent candidate] Ralph Nader. Are you looking at Ralph Nader?
COMBS: I think Ralph Nader has to be thrown into the equation. Anybody running for president has to be equally thrown into the equation. This is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization. We're going to reach out and we're going to motivate, empower and educate the 40 million voters and I think Ralph Nader will be a factor.
But I think none of the parties or candidates are paying enough attention to the minority vote. None of the parties or candidates are paying enough attention to the youth vote, and they will be the deciding factor.
The last election was decided by less than 600 votes. We have 40 million strong. You do the math.
WOODRUFF: You met with John Kerry just a few days ago. What did you ask him?
COMBS: Basically, I was in Philadelphia. I was doing some grassroots voter registration, and he heard I was in town and he said he wanted to meet me and hear about what we were doing, and basically I told him that -- just the same thing I would tell President Bush.
The people need help, man. We have to stop making this a political thing. It's not about being politically correct. It's about helping the people and attending to their needs. and that I would caution him to really pay attention to this community because this community will be the deciding factor.
The forgotten ones will be forgotten no more on November 2. Trust me when I say that.
That we know how to rile up and we know how to energize and we know how to motivate, we know how to synergize young people. We do it every day when we make clothing hot, we make cars hot, we make bling-bling hot and now we're going to make this voting process relevant and hot by, most importantly, educating people to the process to letting them know that if they vote they will be heard.
And it may not happen overnight. I can't promise that. But just like the civil rights movement -- how we are reaping the benefits of that -- this movement that we started here today, our children would hopefully reap the benefits of it.
We're going to have a lot of fun, and we'll bring some energy into this election that's never been seen before. I'm not a stiff politician. I'm a fun guy. We're going to have fun on my campaign trail, and you can come along if you want to.
