I’M IN LOVE/WITH THAT SONG: But my favorite part of the debate, no question, was near the end, when the candidates were all asked to name their favorite song, and more than half of the people on stage managed to embarrass themselves. Obviously not having prepped for that question, the candidates struggled to come up with answers that fit their personas, pandered to key demographic groups, and didn't sound like outright lies. The candidates had varying success:
-Dean, smartly knowing his Historically Black College audience, named the Wyclef Jean song "Jaspara"- I'd have guessed he'd name something by his co-Vermonters Phish, or something. Even though the questioner said this was a question "for the Gen-Xers"- a ridiculously passé reference to people who are now as old as 36- Dean was the only candidate who named a song that was recorded after 1984.
-Lieberman named two tunes- Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop," which Joe probably has no idea was also Clinton's 1992 campaign theme song; would a President Lieberman be able to summon a reunited Fleetwood Mac to his inauguration? Joe also named Sinatra's "My Way." "The record shows/I took the blows"- also sounds more like a Clinton song.
-"Crazy Dennis" Kucinich said his favorite song is John Lennon's "Imagine"- a popular favorite, sure, but do we really want a president who wants us to "imagine no more countries"? "No possessions"? "And no religion too"?
-Al Sharpton listed James Brown's "Talking Loud, Saying Nothing," which he of course accused the president of doing. "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" would've been a more inspired choice for Sharpton, though for Al to drop out of the race immediately would be more inspired still.
- Most embarrassing was Richard Gephardt, who named Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA." Dick apparently wasn't paying attention to the flap in 1984, when Ronald Reagan used the song in his re-election campaign, unaware that it's not so much a patriotic anthem but the cynical lament of a disgruntled Vietnam vet. Even worse, Gephardt made the same mistake himself four years later, using the song as the theme music of his 1988 presidential run- and still unaware of the mistake, named it again as his favorite song on Tuesday. Maybe Gephardt finds the story of the angry vet inspiring, but that's not exactly conducive to a national campaign and besides, isn't "the disgruntled Vietnam vet" more Kerry's angle?
-Speaking of the Son of Kohn, Senator Kerry named another song from the "Born on the USA" album, the much less ambiguous "No Surrender." Not to be outdone, John Edwards called off "Small Town" by John Cougar [sic] Mellancamp, a song that's pretty universally regarded as a ripoff of another "Born in the USA" track, "My Hometown." A fourth song on the album, "Glory Days," was played at some rallies for candidate and former NBA star Bill Bradley in the 2000 race- which some objected to, since one of the verses tells of a washed-up former athlete driven to drink. And I'd imagine at least one candidate who's run for office in Darlington County, Oklahoma, has used that song in a campaign as well.
It wasn't quite Alan Keyes and Gary Bauer sparring over mosh pit dives and the nefarious influences of "Machine Unto the Rage," but still pretty funny nonetheless.
By the way, a special prize for the first person who e-mails me with the song that the subject line comes from.