Not Much Country Soundtrack for the Presidential Race
Maybe I've been missing some stuff, but as I head out to vote on Super Tuesday (never mind who I'm voting for), I realize that none of the major presidential candidates has done anything concrete to court the country music vote. And that's a big voting bloc. Both Bushes and Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon and God knows who all else were careful to woo the country music electorate.
Hillary Clinton, in declaring several years ago that she was not a "stand by your man" woman like Tammy Wynette, did not endear herself to many country music listeners. And Merle Haggard, who wrote a song about her running for president, was careful to point out that he was not endorsing her.
John McCain hasn't said anything on the subject that I've seen.
Barack Obama has been noticeably country music-free.
Mitt Romney said this in an interview with TechCrunch.com's Michael Arrington in November 2007:
MA: Of course you have an IPod! What's on it? What are you listening to right now, what sort of albums have you downloaded or listened to?
MR: What I typically download is country music as well as 1960's music. I'm a baby boomer, so the Beatles and the Stones and some of the old groups from the 1960's are my favorites, I listen to them and I listen to country. I might have some inspirational music as well, but those are the highlights for me.
There you go.
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Southern Beale says:
But … but … but … I thought Mike Huckabee was jamming on Music Row last week?
Do you mean to tell me the TeeVee news lied?
Southern Beale says:
Oh, and one more thing: John McCain prefers Democratic rock and rollers, apparently.
KnoxvilleTalks.com » Former Knoxvillian Chet Flippo blogs the country music vote says:
[...] now blogging over at CMT. I realize that none of the major presidential candidates has done anything concrete to court the [...]
nedwilliams says:
Good point, Chet. And it is even more puzzling in light of the Democratic Party’s efforts to appeal to nascar dads and the born again vote.
Cole Edwards (JensBoyfriend) says:
The perfect boost we needed on Super Tuesday Mr. Flippo!! However, I think Hillary did consider Shania Twain’s “Rock This Country” for her campaign; however, it lost. Ah, well.
mjayhill says:
Chet, maybe that’s a good thing. Why soil OUR good, honest music with all THEIR political BS?
AllanLCampbell says:
The closest Country has come to supporting anybody for this presidental election is John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson. John Rich and Trace Atkins were supporting Fred Thompson. The Democrats could play one of the Blue Collar Working Class songs from Country Music. Barack Obama might be playing Keith Anderson’s “Sunday Morning in America” and Brooks and Dunn’s “Only in America.”
Not Much Country Soundtrack for the Presidential Race-download music says:
[...] Adam S wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptMaybe I’ve been missing some stuff, but as I head out to vote on Super Tuesday (never mind who I’m voting for), I realize that none of the major presidential candidates has done anything concrete to court the country music vote. … [...]
Not Much Country Soundtrack for the Presidential Race-Download Music says:
[...] Russ T.C. wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptMaybe I’ve been missing some stuff, but as I head out to vote on Super Tuesday (never mind who I’m voting for), I realize that none of the major presidential candidates has done anything concrete to court the country music vote. … [...]