During the 2004 campaign, I attended a rally in WV just after John Kerry had selected John Edwards as his running mate. The two candidates and their spouses bounded onto the stage to the high energy beat of U2’s Beautiful Day (YouTube at left), and the crowd’s energy level soared along with the chorus. It was the perfect marriage of music and politics, on a gorgeous blue sky day where the possibilities for the future seemed endless.

Unfortunately, good back-up music didn’t translate to a Bush electoral loss.

Nietschze wrote in his "Epigrams and Interludes" that "[i]n music, the passions enjoy themselves." It should come as no surprise, then, that politicians seek to harness the power of music and art to stir the passions of those whose votes they seek. Those whose business is illusion and art married on the screen — both big and small — do this all the time to great advantage, with some of the best moments in movies, television and music video as visual art, with soaring or painful soundtracks tugging your heartstrings along for the visual ride.

Why wouldn’t campaigns learn from this, and seek to use the skillful marketing and PR illusions from staging and film pursuits to political success with a public and press that seems ever-more hungry for bread and circuses?

The WSJ had a recent article detailing some of the music being used on the campaign trail this year. While some of it seemed a good fit between message and candidate, some of it is dubious and tenuous at best, and some an outright attempt at emotional shell games for the campaigns or false advertising altogether. The most amusing part of the WSJ article is that the illusory marketing aspect of the whole candidate sales package seems to come as a bit of a surprise for the reporters.

News flash, kids: marketing a candidate these days is no less a sales job than putting together a feature film roll-out.  A major marketing push almost always makes me suspicious about the quality of the film, why should I by less so for a politician?

Since reporters cover more "tug at emotions" stories than issues and substance, why wouldn’t the campaigns resort to outright tug at the heartstrings campaign techniques? It’s all about the packaging — at least, so long as the candidates can get away with pushing fluff and words over actual deeds. And it isn’t exactly new, given that George Washington was using Yankee Doodle as his theme song back in the day.

Thought I’d list some of the songs out for everyone from the WSJ article. And that we could have a little fun coming up with more accurate theme songs for the various campaigns this year. Because I know you all have some better — and more factually appropriate — songs in mind.

– Clinton: You and I, Celine Dion.

– Romney: A Little Less Conversation, Elvis.

– Edwards: Small Town, John Mellancamp.

– McCain: Won’t Back Down, Tom Petty (since asked to stop using this song by Petty).

– Clinton: Suddenly I See, K.T. Tunstall.

– Huckabee: Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd.

– Richardson: Mess We’re In, Los Lobos.

– Obama: City of Blinding Lights, U2.

– Obama: Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield.

– Obama: Move On Up, Curtis Mayfield.

– Obama: Give the People What They Want, The O’Jays.

– Clinton: American Girl, Tom Petty.

– Romney: Dancin’, Shaggin’ On The Boulevard, Alabama.

– Romney: Only In America, Brooks & Dunn.

– Romney and Guiliani: Life Is A Highway, Rascal Flatts.

Now, I know that y’all can do better than that. What songs would you match up with the various campaigns? Do tell…


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