President Obama is a better singer than Mitt Romney.

Why you should get dressed everyday.

Celebrity kids are always the cutest.

These three actors are so pretty together.

So what is happening over at “the X Factor”?

Box clutches: Cute… or not?

Amber Rose got a face tattoo.

Neil Patrick Harris is un-Punk-able.

Let’s all get ready for the Superbowl food.

Whether you consider yourself a Republican or a Democrat, Independent or blissfully unaware, one thing’s for certain when it comes to President Barack Obama: the man can sing. While speaking at a fundraiser at Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater, Obama belted a couple phrases of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and even the original soul singer is in shock from what he heard.

This past Thursday night, about 1,400 supporters attended the fundraiser, which included performances from Al Green and India.Arie. And after singing a few bars of Green’s classic hit, Obama addressed the singer in the audience, “Don’t worry Rev, I cannot sing like you, but I just wanted to show my appreciation.”

And Green is returning the compliment, telling TMZ that Obama’s singing is “terrific” and ”he nailed it.”

Even more so, American Idol associate music director and vocal coach Michael Orland is a little too excited about Obama’s musical abilities.

“I swear to you, if he auditioned for me in the big stadium [rounds], I would have put him through to the producers immediately,” Orland told MTV News. “I think he was really charming and had a great voice…I thought his phrasing was great, how he broke it up and really worked the room while he was doing it.” All that, after two lines of lyrics.

Obama’s pitch is pretty impressive though. “He was in the exact same key [as Al Green's recording]. To pull that out of the air, with everything perfectly in tune, I was really impressed,” Orland added.

However, Al Green said, “I was thrilled that the President even mentioned my name, and if the President can get the economy going again and get everything going that he wants to, then we’ll all be together.”

Strangest backhanded compliment ever, straight from a supporter who performed at the fundraiser…

Anyway, watch the short clip below:

What’d you think of Obama’s singing abilities? Should he try out for ‘The X Factor’ if he doesn’t score a second term? (There’s no age limit on that show…)

Ashley is a UC San Diego grad who is holding on way too tightly to a potential career in magazines and goes to Vegas all too often. She’s fascinated with celebrities and strawberry beer and doubles as a pathological texter/emailer/blogger. Feed the addiction with tweets @cashleelee. Thanks in advance.

If you’ve been on the internet at some point since Tuesday night (and if you’re reading this, then yes, I’m talking to you), then you’ve probably read one headline or another about the Iowa Caucus, which was one of the first “races” for the Republican presidential candidates. It’s usually supposed to be an accurate early indicator for who will win a political party’s nomination, but what happens when over 120,000 votes are tallied and a candidate leads by only eight votes? Should we even care about these caucuses at all?

To be honest, you shouldn’t really care about these results. The fact that one extra handful of people wrote Mitt Romney’s name down on a piece of paper (forget pregnant chads or digital votes, this caucus process is some serious old school stuff) really won’t determine the fate of these Republican candidates. Because those who caucused on Tuesday night are only a percentage of those who live in Iowa because even they’re only a percentage of the people who care a little about so many long speeches. Besides, these votes don’t even count for anything when it comes to the official nomination; people’s minds change and those eight people just might vote for someone else!

However, you should care about the caucus altogether: even though former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney just barely beat former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, it’s interesting that Santorum was at the bottom of opinion polls just a few weeks ago. Oh, and his campaign may not be backed by as much funding as Romney’s is, and yet he managed second place in the closest caucus in history. Even though Tuesday night was like a “test run” of what’s to come at the national convention later this year, there’s still much to learn from it. It’s the same reason why sports teams play preseason games and why students the PSATs in high school: they literally don’t mean anything, and yet there is so much be said about those supposedly negligible games and tests!

If you’re voting Republican, Tuesday night brought the first glimpse of who might earn your support at the voting booths (note: it’s no longer Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who dropped out after placing sixth at the caucus).

If you consider yourself a Democrat, then you saw who Barack Obama might be up against in November (not that you could clearly tell from those results or anything).

And if you have yet to decide where you stand politically or who to lend your support to, this is the year to do so. Four years ago, America voted the first African-American president into the White House, and this year has already seen the closest caucus in history. Sure, you don’t have to watch every single primary event or fly out to support in person, but if you’re one of the many who are unhappy with the state of this country, then cast your ballot carefully. Even if you think your vote won’t count, or that the entire democratic system of voting really doesn’t matter, or that politicians always go back on their word once elected into office, I still think that we should try.

Maybe I’m just super naive because this will be the first presidential election I can vote in (I missed the last one by being one month too young), maybe I’m just getting too excited from too many media headlines that I just had to write my own for College Candy. Either way, I’m voting this year, and since it’ll be my first time, I’m not just gonna give it away to anybody!

Ashley is a UC San Diego grad who is holding on way too tightly to a potential career in magazines and goes to Vegas all too often. She’s fascinated with celebrities and strawberry beer and doubles as a pathological texter/emailer/blogger. Feed the addiction with tweets @cashleelee. Thanks in advance.

In honor of election day, we got to thinking about politicians and how they have the power to change the world and make a difference. But we also got to thinking that when they’re not making speeches and creating laws, they have the power to be an amazing party guests. The kind of party guests that will have all your guests saying, “I didn’t know Hoover knew how to do the worm!” and “Whoa, Andrew Jackson, where did you even find an original Four Loko!”

So in honor of election day 2011, we put together a list of the top 5 politicans we would invite to a raging party. With no further ado, meet your new favorite party guests!

initiating the gallery...

You’ve probably heard about Occupy Wall Street by now unless you live under a rock. But you’ve probably only seen things about the 1% versus the 99% and jokes on TFM. Kanye West even showed up. This has spiraled into something that I don’t even think the protestors knew it would. Occupy Wall Street is now on college campuses across the country, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going away any time soon. For the past month countless protesters have been well, occupying Wall Street, without any specific demands. Right now, it’s unclear really what the goal of the group is.

Here’s what you should know:

1. In July, Adbusters, a Canadian-based media group proposed the movement to peacefully occupy Wall Street to protest corporate 1% (being the wealthiest in the country) on the government. On September 17th, the movement started and protesters set up camp all over New York City. They’ve been protesting corporate greed and involvement and social and economic inequality.

2. The New York City General Assembly (NYCGA) is now basically the official title for groups occupying Wall Street. Since there were so many groups protesting, they formed one huge group that assembles peacefully in places like Liberty Plaza, right under Wall Street’s nose. Mayor Bloomberg said in a press conference in response to the movement that “People have a right to protest, and if they want to protest, we’ll be happy to make sure they have locations to do it.”

3. People are calling Occupy Wall Street the Tahrir Square of America. During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, hundreds of thousands of Egyptian protestors occupied Tahrir Square to remove  Hosni Mubarak from office. On February 11, 2011 he was removed by the Egyptian Armed Forces, a move made possible in part by the occupation of the square. Let’s hope Occupy Wall Street doesn’t turn anymore violent than it already has with the use of pepper spray.

4. Occupy Wall Street is a horizontal democracy. What does that mean? It means they are a leaderless movement that makes decisions on consensus, which is why the process takes so long. You have hundreds of thousands of people trying to agree on something together.

5. There are a ton of different groups within the movement for protesters to choose from. People can get involved with the demands group, finance group, PR group, and more.

6. It has become a global movement. Occupy Wall Street has spread to other countries like England, Italy, France, and Greece. These protests have a similar idea to end corporate corruption, but have tailored it to their own country’s needs.

7. The group itself is split on its demands. The NYCGA met in Zuccotti Park Tuesday night to discuss their demands however, they can’t agree on how to reach those demands. Half of the group wants a consensus and other half wants majority rule by 2/3 vote. At their meetings, anyone can show up an add a demand to their list to be discussed.

8. While hundreds have been arrested, no one has been charged so far with committing a violent act.

9. Occupy Wall Street has a good neighbor policy to keep things as peaceful as possible during their occupation, especially due to their location at Liberty Plaza which is near Ground Zero. They have a zero tolerance policy on drugs, violence, and abuse toward anyone.

10. It doesn’t look like it’s ending any time soon. The NYCGA says Occupy Wall Street will continue “Until change happens!”

initiating the gallery...

1. Fought for children to have access to their parents’ insurance plan until they’re 26.
This is near and very dear to my heart. I hadn’t been to a doctor in years. I made it through college with nothing more severe than a cold and a bruised ego from too many bad decisions. Naturally, 2.5 seconds after graduating, I got hit with a gnarly kidney infection. Pre-Obama, this would have meant that I was SOL because I was no longer a student. Luckily, that is no longer the case. Especially in this rough economic climate where millions and millions of people are unemployed or in jobs that offer no benefits, this is a great law that protects so many of us.

2. Cracked down on aggressive marketing of credit cards to college students.
We all know the danger of credit cards, but the lure of having hundreds (or thousands) of dollars at your immediate disposal can be great…but not if you lack the means to pay the bill every month. Credit card companies used to actively push credit cards onto students, who usually don’t have enough funds to be responsible credit card owners. So it was not uncommon to graduate college with thousands of dollars in credit debt in addition to student loan debt — making it easier for companies to justify raising interest rates (more debt = higher risk). Now anyone under 21 must have a co-signer and/or verification of independent income. Credit card debt can have a harrowing effect on one’s financial status for many, many years  and Obama’s emphasis on protecting college consumers is definitely admirable.

3. Signed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal. 
This is a serious step forward in the gay civil rights movement. Allowing gays to serve openly in our military is an important step in removing the societal stigma that unfortunately still surrounds homosexuality. We still have a lot of work to do until gays are granted all the rights and protections of an American citizen. But, I can’t deny the fact that gays were willing to die for their country while fighting wars for freedom, despite not being able to express their love for their significant others was a serious stain on America’s reputation as the “land of the free.”

4. Made financial aid more accessible
College is getting obscenely expensive, and it’s completely not fair or just for higher education to only be accessible to the children who come from well-off families. Student loan companies were screwing over students by attaching exorbitant fees to loans — and Obama made that illegal. Moreover, he expanded the amount of federal money dedicated to funding Pell Grants, financial assistance granted to lower-income students. Education is absolutely necessary for most people to advance in the current structure of our society, and giving lower-income students the opportunity to create a better life for themselves is definitely laudable.

5. Refused to cut funding for Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood provides absolutely essential health care services for lower-income and college women. From pap smears to STD tests to abortion to health education, Planned Parenthood is an important organization. During negotiations to avoid the government shutdown a few months ago, Republicans lobbied to cut funding (abortion, the most controversial service PP provides, cannot be funded by federal money anyway). The sustained attack on women’s reproductive rights by oppressively conservative politicians is scary and unnerving, but I am so glad Mr. Obama is willing to fight on our behalf.

Photo courtesy of Jezebel.com

Is it still pro-life when the legislation isn’t actually supporting life?

That’s what our friends over at Feministing are asking as they discuss a proposed law in South Dakota that would expand the definition of  ”justifiable murder” to include killings that are intended to prevent harm to a fetus. Who would that include exactly, you ask?  That might be the doctor willing to perform the abortion or maybe even the woman that wants to have the abortion, herself.

Does anyone else find that just the slightest bit contradictory? It’s one thing to oppose abortion. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It’s something else entirely to legalize and justify the killing of a man or woman willing to perform an abortion. It’s extreme, irrational and just a little bit absurd.

As of now the bill has passed out of a committee with a nine to three vote and is expected to face a floor vote soon.

Click here to read all about what  Feministing is calling “anti-choice legislation taken to it’s extreme,” then share your thoughts/feelings/concerns below.

Let’s talk about politics, ladies.

Or maybe something slightly more relevant to us: politicians and their children.

The daughters of today’s politicians always seem to have their own agendas; messages they want to spread, campaigns they want to share, insider accounts of the campaign trail. It’s like because we’ve elected their parents (or rather because their parents want us to elect them) it automatically gives them the right to speak out on a whole bunch of issues they may or may not know anything about.

And I’m not sure exactly where I stand on this whole thing. Because while I know I could really do without ever hearing about Megan McCain’s “blogette” or reading Dirty, Sexy, Politics, some politicians’ daughter might actually be worth listening to.

Well…not this one.

Apparently, Bristol Palin wants to travel from college to college and preach abstinence. But college students, just don’t want to listen to her. Originally, Bristol was supposed to head on over to Washington University to be the keynote speaker during their “Sex Week.” But in the end the students turned her down. They felt that $15,000+ was too much to spend on a 20-year-old politician’s daughter with no expertise in the field. (One who obviously needs to reconsider her own position on abstinence since it didn’t work out so well for her the first time.) So now she’s trying to go to UC-Irvine to spread her message (and not her legs). But they’re not exactly thrilled with the idea either. University students have spoken out against the idea of Bristol Palin coming to speak at their school.

Perhaps they’d be more happy with Barbara Bush?

No that was not a typo. The Republican’s daughter just released a video in support of gay marriage, declaring “I am a New Yorker for marriage equality.” And that’s one message we might actually want to hear. Because although it doesn’t actually change anything, it’s still a step in the right direction. If a Republican’s daughter can openly and publicly support gay marriage then maybe marriage equality is on its way to being a non-issue? I know its still a long way off, the idea of Republicans and Democrats alike embracing marriage equality as a given as opposed to a political issue, but it’s  still a start.

And with that said, I think it’s a good thing that these politicians’ children are speaking out. They’re young adults with ideas and points of view that are capable of relating to you and me. And although some messages make more sense than others, these children should all embrace this opportunity they’ve been given. Their parents lead very public lives and because of that they have a chance to make their opinions known.

And then we can form ours.

What do you think? Do you want to hear from these politicians daughters? Or should they just leave the campaigning to their parents?

WikiLeaks.

I asked one of my roommates what she thought of the controversial website this morning and she responded, “Wait, what’s WikiLeaks?” The site has become huge in the past few months, if not days. Yet, it has slipped past the radar of many educated college students. Even the majority of those that are aware of its existence seem to get confused when the specifics of the site are discussed. But, seeing the impact this site is having on the world, it is definitely something everyone should know about.

Below is a brief guide to WikiLeaks, jam-packed with helpful links to help you understand the goings on of the Internet’s most controversial site (so be sure to click away).

What is it?

The site itself began in 2006. Wikileaks has published classified and private documents, submitted by secret sources, from the contents of Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account to the Afghan War Diary, which documented the War in Afghanistan from 2004-2009.

WikiLeaks receives all of its information from “people who have access to controversial or classified documents, who either send them electronically or through the mail.” The editors of the site then determine what information is important or significant and publish it on the site.

Why is it controversial?

What should be kept secret and what should be made public? And, who is to determine the difference? Since the release of the Pentagon Papers in the ’70s, people have been asking that question.

The site doesn’t just publish U.S. documents, although the U.S. leaks have certainly garnered a ton of attention. WikiLeaks publishes secret information from all different countries. Their goal is to “[improve] transparency, and this transparency creates a better society for all people. Better scrutiny leads to reduced corruption and stronger democracies in all society’s institutions, including government, corporations and other organisations.”

Several days ago, WikiLeaks upped the ante of their website by announcing that they would publish classified U.S. diplomatic cables. The first of the documents have now begun to travel around the internet and to countless media outlets. And, the contents of the documents are definitely not going to help U.S. diplomatic relations.

What’s at risk?

Earlier this week, a man came forward to Gawker and revealed an encounter (of the hookup variety) with Christine O’Donnell, the female Republican candidate running for Delaware senator against Democrat Chris Coons. O’Donnell’s Communications Director Doug Sachtleben has classified the publicized morning-after-story as “just another example of the sexism and slander that female candidates are forced to deal with.” And we here at CollegeCandy, who have been collecting the best morning after stories for years, couldn’t agree more.

The entire situation is all “he said, she said” at this point (well, more like “some anonymous guy says and she refuses to say”), but who seriously cares? They (allegedly) hooked up three years ago, long before Ms. O’Donnell was a candidate in this very race. Does this encounter say something about O’Donnell’s ability to lead? Is this story pertinent to the election at all or is it only “news” because it bashes a female candidate in a sexually explicit way?

Think about it: we never hear about male a candidate’s sexual history unless it’s particularly lurid or involves a cigar vulgar, yet Christine O’Donnell’s somewhat innocent one night stand is splashed all over the media.

The woman got a little one random night – she didn’t have a secret baby with a KKK member, for God’s sake.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) condemned Gawker for publishing an anonymous account, stating that it failed to accomplish anything related to the election besides mock O’Donnell’s failed hook-up. NOW president Terry O’Neill responded, “NOW repudiates Gawker’s decision to run this piece. It operates as public sexual harassment. And like all sexual harassment, it targets not only O’Donnell, but all women contemplating stepping into the public sphere.”

And in 2010, with Smartphones, social media and the deadly combination of the two – we’re all in the public sphere, whether we decide to go into politics or not.  (And for all you potential politicians, don’t think you’re safe once you’re married, either – the press will still get you for fooling around with your own husband!)

O’Donnell wasn’t a political figure at the time of this event, she was a regular woman just like the rest of us. And, also like the rest of us (OK, many of us), she wanted to get some. So what? Should that matter now, three years later, as she runs for political office? Should one night of (failed) passion undermine her election? Should we even be talking about this?

No.

Whether or not we support O’Donnell’s political agenda, let’s keep her personal life out of it. If not for the sanctity of politics in this country, at least for the sake of gender equality and the futures of rest of us who have our own sexual skeletons in the closet.