CINCINNATI (TDB) -- John Edwards is off and running for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and so is his campaign Web site. At a rally in Des Moines on December 28, Edwards said his Senate vote for the Iraq War was a mistake. He's been saying that for more than a year now, so no news there.
What was most interesting -- outside of the fact the former North Carolina senator is in the race -- was the music in the Des Moines hall. He's apparently using Midwesterner John Mellencamp's ode to traditional American values as a theme song, and reports by bloggers and others who covered the Iowa event said the song was played when the rally closed.
Mellencamp has long written songs lamenting how farmers and other working class people have been kicked in the guts by the corporate class, and he's something of a troubador with his roots deep in Indiana. Edwards' theme in this race will probably be the ''Two America's" dichotomy that he hammered on in 2004, and in Mellencamp's music there seems to be perfect pitch.
It is way too early in the campaign for aynone to guess what Mr. Edwards theme will be. Just like a reporter, you would place a label on someone. Theme music is to motivate people, not a label for a campaign theme. You are reading too much into it.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 4:56 p.m.
ReplyDeleteHuh? That's a great song. Clinton had don't stop thinking about tomorrow, and that meshed great with his message. Music can be important in a political campaign. There is no reason not to talk about it. What if they played Sylvia's Mother last night? We'd all be wondering.
Lighten up. I seem to recall there was a tune called Happy Days Are Here Again that seemed to work pretty well rousing people for some guy who ran against Hoover during the Great Depression. I named the tune. Can you name the guy?