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Campaign Event Soundtracks: A Few Suggestions

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On August 28, 2008

In Music, Politics

I am ashamed to say that the Democratic National Convention has been just as successful as the Olympics in running 24/7 at Blacknell.net World Headquarters.  So I’ve seen almost all of the primetime speeches (with varying levels of attention) and heard much of the music.  The choices, for the most part, have been uninspiring (Isn’t She Lovely, following Michelle Obama?  Ugh.)  And music matters (Don’t Stop still brings the 92 convention right back, for me).  So, free of charge, I’m going to offer up some advice for political fundraisers and campaigns, present and future.

Obama might want to take a more aggressive approach, with this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLwBhvFuUIg[/youtube]

More cynical supporters might be won over with:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKFMo8Cv81Y[/youtube]

A Terry McAuliffe dinner:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXZLWe0WMBU[/youtube]

For the Inaugual Ball that Hillary hosts:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fquGNHiEG-4[/youtube]

Because I’m a bipartisan kind of guy, here’s a couple for McCain:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CVJFQkPkCg[/youtube]

Or

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewM0TxX_ua4[/youtube]

And for the Republicans on November 6th:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qtl7l0HHWI[/youtube]

I think we’re alone now,
There does’t seem to be anyone around.
I think we’re alone now,
The beating of our hearts is the only sound.

I’m Not Sure I Understand . . .

By

On August 28, 2008

In Politics

the excitement of some folks at the prospect of Mitt Romney as a VP.  Let’s review Romney’s apparent downsides – 1) out-of-touch rich, 2) values his religion more than good public policy, and 3) is a complete phony.  Maybe it’s just me, but that’s the sort of thing that Republican voters just eat up, no?  And it’s worth remembering that it describes George Bush pretty well, too.  I’m not saying that Romney’s anything to be concerned about (as a VP candidate, anyway)*, but as a Dem, I’d far rather see a freakshow like Huckabee or sadsack Lieberman on the ticket.

*This would be a completely different race if the GOP had had the sense to pick Romney as its nominee.

The Hope of Message Control

By

On August 28, 2008

In Politics

Interesting NYT piece on the firm editorial hand of the Obama campaign:

“Above all,” it said, “we can’t have a Statue of Liberty welcoming immigrants to our country as we build a wall on the Southern border. Instead, let us build bridges of friendship and cooperation with our Southern neighbors.”

But when Representative José E. Serrano of the Bronx submitted his three-minute speech as required to the high command of Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, the remark was excised.

[ . . . ]

That was not all that was missing; the speech he delivered here on Monday bore little resemblance to the one he had written. The deletions appeared to reflect political sensitivities of a campaign seeking to attract moderate voters in the general election.

[ . . . ]

Gov. David A. Paterson of New York also felt the firm nudge of the Obama campaign. Mr. Paterson had hoped to emphasize the poor state of the economy, a central issue on his agenda, during his turn at the lectern on Tuesday. Instead, the campaign persuaded Mr. Paterson, who is legally blind, to talk about his disability, which he often avoids discussing in detail for fear of being pigeonholed as an advocate for the blind.

I don’t mind a bit of caution and control in a campaign.  But it’s a tricky task to manage – I hope they’re up to it.

Midweek Makeover: Political Soundtracks

By

On August 27, 2008

In Music, Personal, Politics

Okay, I had great ambitions for this evening’s effort, but the complete result will have to wait until tomorrow.  For now, I’ll tease it with one of the songs I’d love to see work its way into the rotation at this fall’s rallies:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrHHAZFPmMY[/youtube]

(Hey, I never said it would be a good idea.  Just said that *I* would love to see this song.)

The Restoration of Bill

By

On August 27, 2008

In Politics

In the first five minutes, he reminded me of how he got elected twice.  Amazing.

So What Was That About, Gov. Warner?

By

On August 27, 2008

In Politics, Virginia

I saw 95% of Mark Warner’s speech last night, and I have to admit to coming away confused as to why he talked up a claim “that may not go over too well in a hall full of 18,000 partisan Democrats[.]”  If it was saying that it going to be what most of his speeches are – generally uninspiring and constantly reassuring us that he won’t break out and ask us to do anything hard – well, okay.  But it struck me more that he was indulging – on a national stage – what Virginia Democrats have a particular talent for doing: running against the same non-existent scary liberal that populates the imaginations of Virginia Republicans.  It’s an ugly enough bit of theatre here in Virginia, and there was no need to bolster the myth when he had national attention.

Kucinich on “Four more years”

By

On August 27, 2008

In Law, Politics

Seems like the editors’ pens kept what would have been the best line of the DNC thus far away from us:

The campaign struck this line, addressing Republicans, from Kucinich’s speech:

“They’re asking for another four years — in a just world, they’d get 10 to 20.”

DC Demands Vote at DNC; No One Listens

By

On August 26, 2008

In DC, Policy, Politics

That it’s the vapid souls over at DCist who ended up with DNC credentials is probably all you need to know about the state of DC’s political scene.  Nevertheless, it’s DCist who brings us this report that Eleanor Holmes Norton, fake-Rep. and Colbert Report star, called upon an empty hall at the Democratic National Convention to answer DC’s plea for help in establishing its citizens as equals in the United States:

“The nation’s founders staked everything on creating a country where there would be ‘no taxation without representation’ anywhere in America. In that tradition, Democrats proudly support the vote in Congress for the 600,000 citizens of our nation’s capital,” Norton said.

Invoking Martin Luther King Jr., Norton energetically called for the Democratic Party to to follow the principle that all Americans should have equal rights — including full voting rights for the citizens of the U.S. capital.

Norton also spoke to one of the D.C. voting rights movement’s main arguments, that D.C. residents serve and die in the U.S. military, yet lack a vote in Congress.

And no one listened.  Democrats can give all the lip service they want to the importance of representation and equality, but until they take DC’s situation seriously, I’ll not take them entirely seriously.  It’s an easy, straight-forward, basic-American-values problem to solve.  So why are we still fucking around with it?

Obama’s “Bizarre” Life Story

By

On August 26, 2008

In Personal, Politics

“Bizarre” is how NBC’s Brian Williams described Obama’s life story, the other day. This follows on the heels of Cokie Robert’s calling Hawaii some “foreign, exotic place.”  And then there’s the whole father-from-another-country thing.

I am, at best, a cautious supporter of Barack Obama.  Of course, it should go without saying that I find him almost infinitely preferable to the alternatives.  It’s just that I don’t believe the hype, and that I am old enough to know that every of of them will disappoint you, in the end.  And as great as I think Obama may be, he deserves a lot of criticism, on the merits.

That said, I am surprised by my deeply personal and visceral reactions to those that attack Obama’s status as an American.  He and I share a lot.  Our “foreign” fathers married midwestern American mothers, we’ve lived all over the world, and neither one of us desperately need to present America as the savior to the world’s problems.  Oh, and we also shared that Hawaiian experience.  This is my world, growing up:

What a foreign bunch, eh?  No matter what, there are going to be more like me and Obama than there are those like John McCain and Mark Penn.  We.will.win.

Dave Stewart’s American Prayer

By

On August 22, 2008

In Music, Personal, Politics

I’m not really one for schmaltzy campaign songs*, but I think Dave Stewart’s done a good job with this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVi4rUzf-0Q[/youtube]

More about the song (process and lyrics) here.

*I was going to say that I’m more into the Mosh sort of campaign song:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOLMVQa0KD8[/youtube]

But then I realized that the most compelling political campaign song/video I’ve ever seen was this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm2OXQh3duI[/youtube]

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