Griebel inspires man to write campaign rap
Ian MacDonald has rapped about his student loans and a terrible experience with a couch delivered by Ashley Furniture HomeStore.
Mostly, the 31-year-old’s raps are for his friends and maybe his mother.
But this week, MacDonald shared a new rap on YouTube about his support for Oz Griebel, a thirdparty candidate for governor. The rap has quickly become the anthem of Griebel’s burgeoning campaign.
“I’m hardly a rap expert,” Griebel said Thursday. “But as far as I’m concerned it captures the essence and the energy of the campaign in a great, great way.”
MacDonald is part of a growing group favoring the once-unknown Griebel, the former president of the MetroHartford Alliance, who was supported by 11 percent of likely voters in a Quinnipiac Poll released Wednesday.
MacDonald is a Hartford mental health counselor who has never volunteered for, worked for or even donated to Griebel’s campaign. Until he watched a televised debate between gubernatorial candidates Democrat Ned Lamont, Republican Bob Stefanowski and Griebel on Sept. 26, he said, he didn’t know Griebel was running.
A one-time lobbyist for an Alzheimer’s nonprofit, MacDonald lives in a small house in Wethersfield, which he and his wife are readying for their first child. He’s a registered Democrat, but he likes Griebel’s practicality and focus on addressing Connecticut’s pension obligations.
“I don’t know how anyone could have watched that and not thought, not only does this man deserve to be up there, but he is probably the most qualified person to be running in the race,” MacDonald said. “I’m going to vote for someone I actually like.”
MacDonald began discussing the underdog candidate with his friends. One said he couldn’t vote for Griebel because that might help Stefanowski win by splitting the Democratic vote.
MacDonald wanted to persuade his friend that a good third-party candidate was worth it. Over the weekend, he spent six hours writing and recording the rap on a Best Buy microphone in his home office. He posted the rap on YouTube Tuesday.
“You want a man of the people / Get out your house and vote for Griebel,” MacDonald raps to a rhythmic beat.
The rap, which calls Lamont and Stefanowski “empty suits,” mentions factors that might be behind both candidate’s lukewarm approval ratings in this week’s Quinnipiac poll. MacDonald paints the Democrat as a disconnected, unexciting rich guy.
“You’d make a good VP at a K-5 school/ But that’s as far as it goes, Ned,” MacDonald raps. “I wish you weren’t so bland, sir / I’d love you as my neighbor / you could change your name to Flanders.”
Lamont’s campaign said they appreciated the “lighthearted fun,” but take the election too seriously for raps.
“This election — in the midst of Donald Trump’s presidency — is the most important in decades,” said Lacey Rose, a campaign spokeswoman. “That’s because Bob Stefanowski, the Republican opponent, has an extreme scheme to eliminate the minimum wage, cut money for our schools, raise property taxes, and slash health care for people who need it most.”
MacDonald’s rap punches Stefanowski for recycling a few a talking points about taxes.
“I could get a cardboard cut-out of you / and a tape cassette record / and play the same three things you say / and loop it 30 times / I bet no one would know the difference,” MacDonald raps.
Like Lamont’s, Stefanowski’s campaign chose not to respond in rhyming verse.
“Ned is spending his millions trying to buy this election,” said Kendall Marr, Stefanowski’s spokesman. “In the end, he’ll be with Oz in the runners-up section.”
Griebel said his campaign will use the rap, which had about 750 views Thursday evening, to promote his candidacy on social media. A campaign volunteer dropped off a lawn sign and tee-shirt at MacDonald’s house Thursday and Griebel plans to thank him personally for the rap.
“It’s very creative. It’s got a great beat to it, and it’s fun,” said Griebel.