Musician and entrepreneur Jay-Z is calling on Obama supporters to exercise their "right to vote" in a campaign video published Monday.
"For so long there was this voice that was silenced out there, you know as far as exercising your right to vote. I think it was a voice that was silent because people had lost hope," Jay-Z says in the video. "Now people are exercising their right and you're starting to see the power of our vote. He made it mean something for the first time for a lot of people. Having someone if office who understands how powerful our voice can be."
Jay-Z, who with wife Beyoncé hosted a fundraiser in September for Obama, praises the president for the impact he's had on the country.
"When the president got in office initially, what he represented to a nation of kids was hope. You know the hope of all the people across the country you know who would look and see themselves and know the possibilities," he says.
In a bit of cross promotion, the campaign spot also features video remarks made by the president during the "Budweiser Made In America” festival, where Jay-Z performed on Sept. 1.
During the festival Obama urged the crowd of 50,000 gathered in Philadelphia to vote, reported The Associated Press.
"To me the idea of America is that no matter who you are, what you look like, or where you come from, you can make it if you try. Jay-Z did. He didn't come from power or privilege. He got ahead because he worked hard, learned from his mistakes and just plain refused to quit. That's the promise of this country and all of us have the obligation to keep that promise alive," Obama said at the festival, which is highlighted in the video.
The Obama campaign directs viewers of the video to its "gottavote" Web pages, which explain to how to vote early, register to vote and state-by-state guides to what voters need to know on Election Day.
Republicans accused the president last month of "hobnobbing" with Jay-Z and other celebrities while neglecting his duties as president.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) sent out a list of the "Top 10 Things Obama Should Be Doing Instead of Hobnobbing With Jay-Z, Beyonce and Letterman" on the evening of the September fundraiser.
"Tonight President Obama will be hobnobbing with Jay-Z, Beyonce and Letterman, but from finding a plan to decrease the number of Americans on food stamps to meeting with Netanyahu and giving us specifics on his plan to create jobs, here are the top 10 things he should be doing instead," the RNC said in a statement.
