Fox preemptive strike against Mellencamp: ‘He’s way over there’

rawstory.com...

The rocker behind Farm Aid is evidently too subversive for the gang at Fox and Friends. Although it's probably safe to assume that the Fox morning hosts don't know much about John Cougar Mellencamp, other than he sang about "Small Towns."

Democrats at Daily Kos and at other blogs have been pushing for the Indiana rocker to run for the Senate seat that the retiring Evan Bayh is relinquishing. One Facebook group, Draft John Mellencamp for Senate!, had almost 700 members at press time.

Apparently the conservatives have a reason to be sacred like they claim the liberals are afraid of exgov Palin [who is now more of a celebrity] or else Fox would just ignore this.

My question is how much influence do celebrities wield in the political arena.
It would seem a lot because If Jessie Ventura could get elected then...
And Oprah.....

Mellencamp is a great musician, generous philanthropist, and all-around good guy. But Senator? I certainly hope not.

He's donated a pile of money to Indiana University and subsequently gave the commencement address and received an honorary degree. Nothing about that event would lead me to believe he's in any way an appropriate choice for the US Senate. It would surprise me greatly if he'd even consider it.

reply to post by yeahright


Are you implying that the Senators we currently have came into office with some sort of special savvy? Some special skills? If that's the case than I call uber-FAIL. Maybe we need to send up some 'regular folk' (not that JCM is necessarily 'regular' being a celebrity and all).

I'm pushing I-AIM :: Independence - Anti-Incumbency Movement

Toss them all out. Every one. No more Democrats. No more Republicans.

reply to post by jtma508


I'm not a particular fan of any member of Congress, although I do have a great amount of respect for Dick Lugar. If there's a move afoot to toss out the incumbents, I'm all for that. But my personal requirement for serious consideration includes something beyond name recognition.

I'd like to see at minimum and in no specific order:

• Integrity
  
• Intelligence
  
• A grasp of the issues
  
• A plan for action
  
• Communication ability
  
• Work ethic
  
• A history of accomplishments
  

Something in the background that tells me the person is capable with a transferable skill set and has a grasp of the enormity of the job and associated responsibilities.

Entertainer in no way fits the bill as far as I'm concerned. If an entertainer wants to be in the US Senate, start off in the state legislature and show me something first.

The party hacks who do the slating care not for anything but who can win. Unfortunately in our system, the same people who make Kevin Federline a celebrity can vote, which means optimum qualifications frequently aren't a primary consideration.

[edit on 2/17/2010 by yeahright]

reply to post by yeahright


I agree that celebrity is no basis for choosing a political representative...

but then, what else are we offered?

reply to post by Maxmars


Good question. Who chooses the choices we have to choose from? That's almost too depressing to contemplate.

reply to post by yeahright


Kinky Freedman ran for Gov. of Texas. His campaign slogan....

"How hard can it be"

Integrity is about all that matters to me anymore.





[edit on 17-2-2010 by whaaa]

John for Senate? I'm all for it! Let's get him in there. Someone who appears to have "some" integrity.

reply to post by Maxmars



I won't be surprised to see Angelina Jolie in the political arena when it finally gets to the point she concedes there is no Fountain of Youth decides to throw up the white flag and surrender to Father Time.

reply to post by NightGypsy


With her already being a member of the Council on Foreign Relations I wouldn't be too surprised at all.... but who will take care of the herd of children she's acquired, Brad?

With sarah palin blazing the trail of unsuitability for government office , I don't see why anyone can't have a go , they have to have more integrity than she does . Anyway , wasn't Reagan some useless B movie actor ?

I thought it was ironic as hell that John Kerry and John Edwards, the wealthiest Presidential ticket ever, had JCM's "Small Town" as their campaign song. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

reply to post by Gun Totin Gerbil


Everybody had to start somewhere. Reagan was president of the Screen Actor's Guild and governor of California before he ran for president. Together, I think that more than qualifies as relevant executive experience.

Singing on a stage? Not so much.

The one potential upside to electing "celebrities" is that they like to please their fans...whereas is seems like constituents are only an afterthought to "politicians".

So, presumably, if a "celebrity" is elected by their fans/constituents, then the celebrity would do what pleases the fans in order to maintain their fame.

Celebrities love fame
Politicians love power