In November 2006, I debuted Flumesday’s U.S. election coverage called “Vote Or Don’t.” The name dually describes American political apathy and the difficulty for expats abroad, especially those like myself who don’t live in a democracy, to go through the process of casting an absentee vote. However, with a mere seven months before the Iowa Caucus, the political season is in full swing, candidates are on the campaign trail and Americans are beginning to chatter about the 2008 election. Likewise, it’s time that I begin to chatter about the 2008 election. Wednesday was a big day for both the Republicans and the Democrats. First, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has renounced the Republican party and declared himself an independent. The Jewish mayor is gearing up to make a bid for the presidency as an independent which means he would be the richest presidential candidate since Ross Perot and the most Jewish candidate since Joe Lieberman. But more importantly, the wait is over, Hillary Clinton has selected her campaign song. Selecting a mainstream presidential campaign song began in ‘84 when Reagan selected Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.” The Boss eventually asked Reagan to stop using the song. Then in ‘92, Bill Clinton used “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac. The coolest campaign song came in 2000 when George W. Bush chose Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” If only we had in known in 2000 the extent to which Bush won’t back down. Well Hillary picked about the worst song imaginable– some shitty Celine Dion song called “You and I.” And the Clintons unveiled Hillary’s new campaign song in a web video that spoofed the final scene of “The Sopranos.” They even got Johnny Sack from the show to appear in the video. While most of the pundits are applauding the humorless Hillary for doing something funny, I find the video extremely corny. Have Americans become so dumb that we want to see our potential presidents making funny YouTube videos? In the spirit of the democratic process, here’s the video and you decide.
•CBS: Hillary Spoofs ‘Sopranos’
•ABC: Bloomberg Changes Party