via hipavista

When Reggaeton King Daddy Yankee came out during the DNC last week to give his endorsement for John McCain, many were shocked that McCain would align himself with a man who made his fame off of the song "Gasolina," a song that, let's just say doesn't reflect typical Whitehouse family values. We were more shocked with Daddy's reasons for picking McCain: listing him as a fighter for the Hispanic community, and “a fighter for the immigration issue.”

We were wondering just which side of that immigration issue. McCain’s “immigration issues” include actively rounding up and deporting two million illegal immigrants who have committed crimes, securing borders, and to make possible for immigrants to do jobs American’s won’t do. He said in a 2004 Arizona Senate Debate, “There are jobs that Americans will not do, so we have to make it possible for someone to come to this country to do a job that an American won't do and then go back to the country from where they came.” And while he is forever against amnesty, he acknowledges that all illegal immigrants are “God’s children as well.”

We wanted to get to the bottom of things, so we asked Voto Latino Executive Director María Teresa Petersen, just what this means.

CGG: What do you think of Daddy Yankee endorsing McCain?

MTP: We talk about the diversity of the Latino community. Everybody wants to keep putting Latinos as Democrats and that’s not it. We think Daddy Yankee is a part of our coalition. It’s a matter of saying, ‘Look, we’re all informers. We have to understand the issues, we have to build companions to speak to our issues, and we have to take our time.’ And I think the fact that he endorses a Republican, the fact that he endorses McCain, I think we have to sponsor the fact that there’s a lot of homework to do in this campaign.

So there you have it. You've got to do your homework. This is our election. The whole irony of the situation? Daddy Yankee won’t even be able to vote for McCain in November. While Puerto Rico is a United States territory, it’s not a state, and its residents cannot vote in presidential elections.

To find out which candidate you most align with, visit glassbooth.