Singer Clay Aiken launches bid for Congress
Clay Aiken formally declared his bid for Congress, setting aside the singing career he launched on TV's American Idol to run as a Democrat for a North Carolina seat now held by a Republican. In a video posted Wednesday on You Tube, Aiken alluded to the "golden ticket" that got punched when he was the 2003 runner-up on the reality singing show. He stressed his upbringing by a single mom and his days as a special education teacher in explaining that he wants to serve in Congress for people who don't have a voice. "I'm not a politician. I don't ever want to be one, but I do want to help bring back — at least to my corner of North Carolina — the idea someone can go to Washington to represent all the people, whether they voted for you or not," Aiken said. He is aiming to take on Rep. Renee Ellmers, chairwoman of the Republican Women's Policy Committee, who won a seat long held by a Democrat in 2010. In a radio interview last week, El...