Politics in the Key of Duh!

So I saw this on CNN.com this morning…do the Republicans ever learn???

Heart condemns McCain-Palin use of 'Barracuda'

In February of this year John McCain at his campaign rallies, used John Mellencamp’s “Our Country” and “Pink Houses” booming out over the speakers. Uplifting heartland rock must have seemed like a smart pick, but there’s just one problem: Mellencamp is an ardent Democrat and was a supporter of John Edwards – who had been playing “Our Country” and “Small Town” at his rallies. At the time Mellencamp didn’t make a public response, but his reps were quietly reaching out to McCain and asking him to stop playing his tunes. Not to mention that those votes McCain was seeking probably wouldn’t agree with the mildly progressive lyrics to “Our Country,” which call on the government to “help the poor and common man” and suggest that “there’s room enough here for science to live/ And there’s room enough here for religion to forgive.” And did McCain really want to associate himself with those “Pink Houses” lines about the “simple man” paying for the “the thrills, the bills and the pills that kill”? Really don't think that shouts Family Values....


more recently McCain got in trouble for using Jackson Brown's song "Running on Empty" in a tv ad.

McCain is not the first to make these mistakes. George W. used "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty at campaign events during the 2000 presidential race but was compelled to stop using the song after receiving a cease and desist letter from Petty's publisher. Petty did not want the use of his song to be construed as an endorsement of then candidate Bush. During the 2004 election cycle George W. Bush used “Times Like These” by the Foo Fighters much to the dismay of Dave Grohl and company and prompted him and the rest of the band to get more politically active, and ended up helping the Kerry campaign as a result.
The ultimate misuse of a song was by Ronald Reagan, while one of my favorite Presidents, not the brightest move when he used Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.” Lyrically, the song deals with the effects of the Vietnam War onAmericans, although it is often misinterpreted as purely patriotic and jingoistic. The song is in part a tribute to Springsteen's friends who had experienced the Vietnam War, some of whom did not come back; it also protests the hardships the veterans faced upon their return from the war


In late August 1984, the Born in the U.S.A. album was selling very well, its songs were all over the radio, and the associated tour was drawing considerable press. Springsteen shows outside of D.C. attracted even more media attention, and more notably, the widely-read conservative columnist George Will, who after attending a show, published a piece entitled "A Yankee Doodle Springsteen" in which he praised Springsteen as an exemplar of classic American values. He wrote:
"I have not got a clue about Springsteen's politics, if any, but flags get waved at his concerts while he sings songs about hard times. He is no whiner, and the recitation of closed factories and other problems always seems punctuated by a grand, cheerful affirmation: 'Born in the U.S.A.!'"

At the same time, the 1984 presidential campaign was in full stride at the time, and Will had connections to President Ronald Reagan's re-election organization. Will thought that Springsteen might endorse Reagan, and got the notion pushed up to high-level Reagan advisor Michael Deaver's office. Those staffers made inquiries to Springsteen's management which were politely rebuffed.

Nevertheless, on September 19, 1984, at a campaign stop in Hammonton, New Jersey, Reagan added the following to his usual stump speech:

"America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts; it rests in the message of hope in songs so many young Americans admire: New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen. And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about."

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Granted the Republican party is at a disadvantage when it comes to music, Republican musicians tend to be Country singers and historically the Democrats are more anti establishment rock and roll.

I would like to think that those running the campagin for the guy who wants to be the leader of the free world would be a bit more careful...maybe they thought they could get away with it ...I mean was anyone watching the convention anyway???

Even a young kid knows after a few times ( I am a slow learner so it probably took me 10) that you if you touch a hot stove you are going to get burned. It is not like I am looking for things about the McCain Campagin to nitpick about...I would like to find something about his campaign I can latch onto ... and just not the hotness of Sarah Palin (especially that one picture where she is holding the machine gun...it just gives me that funny feeling)

I just think that they would be smart enough by now to avoid the negative PR....you would think