Aguilera rocks the vote, gently, with her new son

Remember when Madonna, draped in the American flag, appeared in a vamping public service announcement for a nascent organization called Rock the Vote? Now, almost two decades later, Christina Aguilera is kicking off the new campaign for the group, but the one wearing the flag is her infant son, Max Liron Bratman.

In the new broadcast ad, set to debut later this summer, Aguilera sings a lullaby of "America the Beautiful" to her son, who was born in January. The Grammy winner said she didn't think twice about putting her son in the spot because it's "inevitable that he will be subjected to some amount of press," so it might as well be channeled into a good cause.

"This election in particular is such an exciting and historical one, and so I was proud to have my son and I stand together for such a powerful moment and message in time," the 27-year-old star said.

Rock the Vote turns 18 this year. Its executive director, Heather Smith, said that more than 850,000 users had downloaded voter registration forms from the group's website this year.

geoff.boucher@latimes.com