If Wyclef Was President…

Words By Jesse Serwer, via The New York Times

Yesterday’s Times took stock of Wyclef’s recent media tour (Larry King, Time) in which the former Fugees leader, Yele founder and solo artist whose last album had a song called “If I Was President” has ramped up his talk of running for President of Haiti from vague “yeah, whatever, sure he will” stuff to what, we’re told, will be an actual declaration of his candidacy in the next election. The paper of record rounds up the views of Haitians like Marvel Dandin, director of Haiti’s Radio Kiskeya’s director, who told Time, “Given the awful situation in Haiti right now, most people don’t care if the president speaks fluent Creole,” and: “A lot of Haitians are excited about this.” It also notes the dissenting voice of Haitian musician and blogger Richard Morse, who suggested via Twitter that it would be a foregone conclusion that ‘Clef would be a puppet for the United States. So is ‘Clef for real? We think he might actually stand a chance. Unlike some other iconoclastic entertainer-slash-leaders who probably wouldn’t have made great developing-world political candidates (Bob, Fela), he has the advantage of being American/foreign/untainted by established domestic political lines—more international guardian angel than internally divisive firebrand. Whether he’ll be effective is, of course, another story. Zach Baron of the Village Voice makes a pretty convincing case for why a Wyclef run would be the worst thing possible for a recovering Haiti. UPDATE: This is official. And Pras supports Sweet Micky over’ Clef.