A day after first daughter Jenna Bush gave Republicans a pop-culture lesson by dropping OutKast’s name, half of the hip-hop duo showed up at the GOP convention in New York to encourage young people to vote.

Andre Benjamin, better known to his fans as Andre 3000, came by Madison Square Garden yesterday (Sept. 1) to do interviews for a documentary he’s making for HBO on his transformation from an apolitical musician to a voter-registration activist. “This is my first vote,” Benjamin, 29, said.
The film complements Benjamin’s activities with “Declare Yourself,” a nonpartisan group that’s raised millions to try to get young people to the polls. Earlier in the day he interviewed Jenna and Barbara Bush, who he said surprised him by mentioning his group in their convention speech Tuesday.

Jenna offered OutKast as evidence that her parents “are actually kind of cool. When we tell them we’re going to see OutKast, they know it’s a band and not a bunch of misfits,” she said.

Benjamin said it was a “great tack. If you’re on the team of the Republicans I think it was smart to do,” he offered. “‘Cause some people, they don’t care. They’re just like: Hey, I want to go to where all the cool people are.”

Rumors that OutKast would perform at a convention-related event have sent Benjamin into damage-control mode. “What I’m doing is nonpartisan,” said Benjamin, who also was at the Democratic National Convention and interviewed John Kerry’s daughters. “I just want people to vote.”

Credit: AP