Clay Aiken is running for Congress in North Carolina. Current status of the American Dream: just fine, thanks for asking. 
 
 The American Idol runner-up today confirmed rumors that he'd be seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat currently held by Rep. Renee Ellmers. His nearly five-minute long campaign ad is extremely emotional — he discusses fleeing from his abusive father as a child and his experiences working as a special ed teacher. It's also heavy on the implications of "yes, I nearly won a singing competition with my elfin charm but I know a lot about politics, too." 
 
 Aiken says that he considers Washington dysfunctional and that he wants to focus on bringing back jobs and improving education. [Variety] 
 
 Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers admitted that he was not actually playing his bass during the Super Bowl, which the more eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed was unplugged. In fact, all of the instrumentals were pre-recorded. Which means that millions of Americans all joined together to watch several grown men pantomime enthusiastically in galactic tights — a new tradition I think we should honor in coming years. [NY Daily News] 
 
 Brandi Glanville has written another book, which is literally titled Drinking & Dating: P.S. Social Media Is Ruining Romance. In it, she seems to frequently discuss her ex-husband Eddie Cibrian, who cheated on her with Leann Rimes and a lot of cocktail waitresses — she says that he gave her HPV ("I have three permanent reminders of my marriage that I live with every day: [my sons] Mason, Jake, and HPV"). 
 
 Is it too optimistic of me to hope that she uses this platform to advocate safe sex and contraception use and to encourage women to get vaccinated? [Daily Mail] 

 RALEIGH Singer and UNC Charlotte alum Clay Aiken will officially announce his campaign for Congress on Wednesday, injecting a nationally known personality into what has been a quiet Democratic primary to produce a challenger to U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers. 
 
 Aikens decision has already reshaped the field. Houston Barnes, a young attorney who lives in Durham, plans to announce Wednesday that he is withdrawing from the race and supporting Aiken. 
 
 That leaves former state Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco of Asheboro and licensed professional counselor Toni Morris of Fayetteville as Aikens primary opponents. 
 
 In a video that will be posted online Wednesday, and in an interview with The News & Observer on Tuesday in Raleigh, Aiken portrays himself as someone who is not a politician. He emphasizes his personal story  growing up in a home torn apart by domestic violence  and says it inspired him to be a voice for the powerless. 
 
 Aiken graduated from UNC Charlotte in 2003 with a degree in special education. 
 
 He began on that path by teaching special education students in Wake County and  after a detour in the entertainment world  working with UNICEF. After months of exploring a congressional bid, he recently decided to put his entertainment career on hold and run. 
 
 I saw this as the best place I could serve because I think Washington, in general, is dysfunctional, Aiken said. I think its high time we put people in Congress who were not beholden to their party and not beholden to anything but the people who they live around and grew up around, in my case. 
 
 Aiken, 35, said jobs and the economy will be important campaign themes; specifically, emphasizing education as a way to get people back to work, including through adult job retraining programs. 
 
 He said he would press Ellmers to explain her voting record that cut funding for military families. She didnt have to run on her record last time, Aiken said. I plan on changing that. I want her to have to talk about and defend some of the things shes done to people in this district. 
 
 Aiken said he planned to raise the vast majority of his campaign funds from supporters but said he might have to use some of his own money. He still retains a fanatical fan base  known as Claymates  which in recent weeks has promoted his candidacy through an online petition. 
 
 Weighing in on the issues 
 
 A little more than a decade ago, Aiken, who grew up in Wake County, was quietly working on a college degree in special education and working at a YMCA in North Raleigh, with a singing hobby on the side. That changed dramatically in 2003, when he became a contestant on the TV show American Idol. 
 
 That led to several best-selling albums, other TV appearances and a role in the Broadway play Spamalot. He lives in a $2 million home he had built in a rural corner of the 2nd Congressional District near the Wake, Durham and Chatham county lines. 
 
 His entertainment career has made him wealthy, but he has also used the money to establish a $2 million foundation to help children with disabilities. 
 
 Over the years, he has weighed in on a number of controversial local issues, ranging from the Wake County school boards opposition to busing for diversity to North Carolinas constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Aiken in 2008 publicly declared that he was gay; he has a partner, and they have a young son who was born through in-vitro fertilization. 
 
 Aiken said Tuesday that he doesnt think being gay will be an issue with voters. 
 
 People care about jobs, they care about the economy, they care about being able to pay for college, he said. That (his sexuality) is an issue that doesnt affect many people in this district or this state. 
 
 But it has already become an issue in the election. Ellmers campaign staff on Tuesday sized up the potential Democratic field this way: 
 
 It speaks volumes to the state of the N.C. Democratic Party that the primary is shaping up to be a choice between the failed Perdue Administrations Keith Crisco, a lawyer who doesnt even live in the district, an activist whos (sic) own party rejected her in the last democrat primary  and Aiken, a performer whose political views more closely resemble those of San Francisco than Sanford, spokeswoman Jessica Wood wrote in an email. Renee best represents the values of the voters in the 2nd District and remains focused on fighting for their families. 
 
 Conservative challenge 
 
 Andrew Taylor, a political science professor at N.C. State University, said Aiken will have a hard time winning in the conservative district, and because of that, some Democrats think hes the wrong candidate. 
 
 Hes going to have to pass the test of people asking him, Why are you doing this? Are you serious? Are you really invested in this area? Those questions are going to have to be answered, Taylor said. 
 
 The district, which has been redrawn since Ellmers election, may be conservative, but it is evenly split along party lines, according to the latest analysis from the State Board of Elections: 36 percent Democratic, 36 percent Republican but with 28 percent unaffiliated. Unaffiliated voters choose which primary to vote in. 
 
 But Barnes, who is dropping out of the race, says that Ellmers is vulnerable and that Aiken is the best Democrat for the job. 
 
 Barnes, 31, said Tuesday that Aikens campaign consultants approached him a few weeks ago and convinced him the partys best shot was to try to avoid a bruising primary and marshal forces against Ellmers. He said he would appear with Aiken in the coming weeks. 
 
 Neither Crisco nor Morris could be reached for comment on what Aikens entry into the race would mean for them. 
 
 A serious-minded person 
 
 Ellmers faces her own opposition in the primary, from investor and radio talk show host Frank Roche of Cary, who is challenging her commitment to the right. He accuses her of being part of the establishment. 
 
 Roche also says Ellmers is vulnerable and told an audience in Pinehurst last month thats why so many Democrats have jumped into the race. When a man in the audience asked Roche if he could beat Aiken, the question drew laughs, but Roche said he considered Aiken a serious-minded person with a real shot at winning the primary. 
 
 My suspicion is if he gets in the race, hes going to win that primary, Roche said. Hell spend a lot of money, and name recognition is critical. 
 
 Roche added that he was confident he could, in fact, beat Aiken in the general election. 
 
 Aiken and Ellmers have already tangled. Earlier this week, reacting to news that Aiken was considering entering the race, Ellmers told a Washington radio station, Apparently his performing career isnt going so well, and hes bored. She then added that he was only the runner-up on American Idol. 
 
 Aiken, asked about her remarks, said he has spent the past decade not responding to criticism. But on Tuesday, he couldnt resist. 
 
 I will say its pretty sad that I didnt even get a chance to get into the race before the mud started being thrown around, Aiken said. Thats not the kind of campaign Im going to run. Maybe I should be flattered that shes worried enough she thinks she needs to stomp me down. News researcher David Raynor contributed.
– The murmurs are true: Clay Aiken will today announce he is running for Congress. He'll enter a North Carolina Democratic primary whose winner will face incumbent Republican Renee Ellmers. He's running in the state's 2nd Congressional District as a political outsider, and intentionally so, the News and Observer reports. "I think it's high time we put people in Congress who were not beholden to their party, and not beholden to anything but the people who they live around and grew up around," he tells the paper, noting that a campaign focus will be education as a means of re-entering the workforce. Aiken says domestic violence in his childhood drove him to fight on others' behalf (As Jezebel notes, the video announcing his run is "extremely emotional," and plays up his humble beginnings while largely ignoring that whole singing competition thing). He's already got the support of fans—"Claymates," as they're known—and one other Democrat who has elected to drop out of the race and back Aiken instead. Ellmers is already attacking the former American Idol contestant: "Apparently his performing career isn’t going so well and he’s bored," she said in a recent radio interview, noting that he'd only come in second on the show. In a statement via a rep, she called Aiken "a performer whose political views more closely resemble those of San Francisco than Sanford."