In one arena, some Republicans like to dismiss President Obama’s politics as socialist. In another arena, partisan bickering has chased U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh out of Congress.
But what would happen if southern Indiana’s John Mellencamp left the rock arena to take Bayh’s seat in Congress?
No stranger to politics, in 2008, he recorded a song supporting Obama and he asked Republican candidate John McCain to stop using “Our Country” and “Pink Houses” at rallies. Mellencamp knows the game.
Now, Mellencamp’s name is circulating as a write-in Democratic candidate to run for Bayh’s seat in November. Mellencamp is staying mum, but grass-roots campaigns are being orchestrated via Internet, including three Facebook accounts.
Ain’t that America?
Mellencamp’s music has been socially relevant since 1985 when he sang of the foreclosure of small farms in “Scarecrow”: “This land fed a nation/This land made me so proud/And Son I’m just sorry/They’re just memories for you now.”
His vision of the USA falls somewhere between a common man’s passion for democracy as in 2007’s “Our Country” (“The dream is still alive/Some day it will come true/And this country it belongs/To folks like me and you”) to a more bleak horizon. Last year on the forboding “Life Death Love and Freedom,” he told bigots in Jena, La. (where white teens hung nooses at their high school and then six black students beat up a white classmate) to “take your nooses down.”
Mellencamp fans know this is a Midwesterner who despises bigotry, rallies for the little guy and stands up for small farmers. Maybe Mr. Mellencamp should go to Washington.
But if we’ve listened to his lyrics, we find his view of Washington, D.C., is one of impotent leaders.
In 1987’s “Down and Out in Paradise,” three Americans write letters of despair to the president, including this from a newly jobless man: “I live in the suburbs/It’s a long way from Washington, D.C. ... My kids are hungry/I’ve got four mouths to feed/I go out every day looking for suitable employment/Do you think there’s something you could do for me. ... Looks like the milk and honey/Done run out on me.”
Republicans would liken his heartfelt concerns to left-leaning socialist tenets. In Congress, he would disintegrate into frustration faster than you can say “Evan Bayh.”
Oh, he’d fight authority, but we know who would win.
If he becomes serious in seeking the seat, let him file a petition and campaign. Let voters decide.
Who’s to say John Mellencamp couldn’t be an effective voice focused on the plight of families and workers? Who’s to say he wouldn’t be open to ideas and bipartisanship?
From 1998’s “Fruit Trader”: “Ain’t got no politics/Ain’t got no particular point of view/What I’ve got is plenty of time on my hands ... Lord, tell me again, what you want me to do.”
