Former President Clinton's saxophone-playing aside, most pols aren't musical savants. That's why we've come up with our own campaign song suggestions for them. You can hear them on our Spotify Playlist if you have an account.
The Beatles leave London airport in 1964. From left: John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison.
“Getting Better” – The song is in part about John Lennon’s abusive relationships with women, but “You’ve got to admit it’s getting better, a little better all the time” could be just the message President Obama needs to send the country about the sluggish economic recovery.
Pop musician George Harrison is shown in this 1964 photo.
“Taxman” – Mitt Romney could fire back with a Beatles track of his own, about the 95 percent marginal income-tax rate in England in the 1960s. It prompted George Harrison to write, “If it gets too cold, I’ll tax the heat. If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet.” Rumor has it that an early draft of the song rhymed “irate” and “individual mandate.”
Gov. George Romney and his son, Mitt, look out over the New York World's Fair grounds on May 18,1964, from the heliport. .
“Born to Run” – He’s got the hair, he’s got the pedigree, and he’s been eyeing the top job practically since birth. Romney could lend himself an air of inevitability by making the case that he was born to run for president. It’s too bad that Bruce Springsteen has a history of barring Republican politicians from using his music.
Rock star Bruce Springsteen accompanies himself on the guitar while singing the hit song "Born in the U.S.A." in 1985.
“Born in the U.S.A” — Another Springsteen favorite, this one for Obama—just to make things perfectly clear.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (center) visits with former President George H.W. Bush, his wife, Barbara, and their dogs Mimi and Bibi.
“Who Let the Dogs Out” — Romney famously and awkwardly recited the chorus of this Baja Men song while posing with young African-Americans in 2008. He could reclaim the song this election cycle by using it as a dig at the Blue Dog Democrats, like Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Ky., who have announced they are staying away from Obama’s nominating convention. Romney would just have to hope the song doesn’t remind voters of his Irish setter Seamus, trapped in that kennel atop the Romney family car.
President-elect Clinton sings along with Kermit the Frog, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and actress Markie Post (right) during the Salute to Children performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.
“It Ain’t Easy Being Green” — The Green Party alienated much of its core constituency in 2000 when its nominee, Ralph Nader, helped hand the presidency to George W. Bush. Since then, the party has been even more marginal. Its 2012 nominee, Jill Stein, might not win any votes with this Kermit the Frog standard, but maybe she could win some sympathy.
Massachusetts state Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham (center), makes a call from a campaign phone bank in Plymouth, Mass., on Jan. 16, 2010.
“Call Me Maybe” – Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., landed himself in hot water by telling CNN that the Obama administration regularly seeks his cooperation in pushing its legislation, when he said: “The president had called me, and vice president calls me, and Secretary [of State Hillary Rodham] Clinton calls asking for my vote all the time,” when the records of his office contradict that claim. If only a shout-out from Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez could do for Brown’s campaign what it did for this previously obscure Carly Rae Jepsen tune.
Actor Alfred Molina performs with the cast of "Fiddler on the Roof" during the 58th Annual Tony Awards at New York's Radio City Music Hall in 2004.
“If I Were a Rich Man” — When Republican George Allen discovered his Jewish heritage during his failed 2006 Senate reelection campaign in Virginia, he was unimpressed, telling a reporter that he continued to eat ham sandwiches. It’s time for Allen—now trying to regain his old seat—to switch course and embrace his Semitic roots by adopting a song from "Fiddler On the Roof," the Tony Award-winning 1964 musical that has become a staple of American Jewish pop culture. If Allen were a rich man, it wouldn’t matter that Democratic opponent Tim Kaine had raised $10.4 million to his $8 million this election cycle.
Stig (Stikkan) Anderson (2nd from left) is shown with pop group ABBA in this 1974 photo after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England.
“Money, Money, Money” — We suggest this for any candidate, really. With the Romney and Obama campaigns each expected to raise upward of a billion dollars, and Citizens United unleashing a flood of untraceable cash into the political process, it really is, as Abba sings, “a rich man’s world.”
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas addresses the Federalist Society in Washington, on Nov. 15, 2007.
“Don’t Speak” -- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas doesn’t have to run for anything, but if he did, this No Doubt song could do the talking for him. He famously hasn’t spoken during oral arguments before the Court since 2006. Any of the six male Supreme Court justices could also appropriate Johnny Cash’s “Man in Black” as a personal theme song.
Want to really get into the campaigning mood? Subscribe to National Journal's Spotify Playlist.
Want to stay ahead of the curve? Sign up for National Journal’s AM & PM Must Reads. News and analysis to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
Leave A Comment