He may be a proud college dropout whose 2004 album promotes that dubious honor, but rapper Kanye West has also become the unexpected force behind a campaign to make education a key issue in the 2008 elections.

In fact, the controversial rapper’s 30-second ad for the group Ed in ’08 has become one of the most-watched videos over the past two weeks on YouTube.com. The spot has had more than 130,000 views, which has helped direct a lot of traffic to the Ed in ’08 Web site.

“This has definitely garnered a lot of national media for us,” said Rachael Brown, a spokeswoman for the group’s campaign.

“Because of [West’s] celebrity, he’s someone who has grabbed the attention of national politicians in the past and has the power to do that in the future.”

West, a graduate of Chicago public schools, could be viewed by some voters as a political liability because of comments he made at a 2005 live fund-raising event for Hurricane Katrina victims, during which he declared that President Bush “doesn’t care about black people.”

But his penchant for going off script is not worrisome to Ed in ’08, which is more interested in his ability to mobilize voters on education issues.

“It really hasn’t been a concern,” Brown said. “He’s not as interested in politics as he is in people. Education really should be a personal issue, not a political one.”