Hangin' Out In 100b

With the Hoo-Ha! of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions now behind us and the next two months set to be a knock-down, drag-out fight to the finish between the Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin campaigns, I got to thinking about presidential campaign theme songs of the past. I’m thinking here about those from 1960 to the present, the era in which television and radio really changed politicking for the Oval Office.

As usual with the Internets, someone has already been there and done that (see Singing Their Way To The White House by Suzanne Baran). However, I thought I might do a quick rundown of the official (or semi-official but widely used) campaign themes songs and see if a few were actual hits.

1960 – John Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon

The Kennedy campaign stumped to “High Hopes” while Nixon pinned his hopes on the painfully titled “Click With Dick” theme. “High Hopes” was the 1959 Academy Award winner for Best Original Song in 1959 and a Frank Sinatra version reached #30 in the Billboard Hot 100. No question in terms of which was going to capture the popular imagination.

1964 – Lyndon Johnson vs. Barry Goldwater

You can’t go wrong with a campaign song based on the tune of a current hit Broadway musical. Johnson campaigned with “Hello, Lyndon”, a variation of “Hello, Dolly”. During 1964, numerous artists covered the musical’s feature song: Petula Clark, Bobby Darin, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, Marvin Gaye, Benny Goodman, and Frank Sinatra. Louis Armstong even bumped The Beatles off the Billboard Hot 100 #1 spot with his version. How could “Go With Goldwater” possibly compete with that?

   Louis Armstrong – Hello, Dolly!

1972 – George McGovern vs. Richard Nixon

I couldn’t find the Richard Nixon theme for the 1972 campaign, but the ill-fated McGovern politicos went with the beautiful but not terribly energizing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel, a Billboard Hot 100 #1 for six weeks in 1970.

1976, 1980, 1984

Jimmy Carter used a song about a Georgia farmer and Gerald Ford used “I’m feeling Good About America”, so we can rush around those. In 1980, Ronald Reagan used “California Here I Come” and, in 1984, used the Springsteen #9 Billboard Hot 100 “Born In The U.S.A.” … until, that is, The Boss told Reagan’s re-election machine to stop.

1988 – George H.W. Bush vs. Michael Dukakis

In a burst of backhanded irony from an extremely wealthy candidate, George Herbert Walker Bush used the Woody Guthrie people’s classic, “This Land Is Your Land”, to trounce the tank-driving Michael Dukakis supported by Neil Diamond’s 1981 #8 Billboard Hot 100 hit “America”.

1992 – Bill Clinton vs. George H.W. Bush

No New Taxes came back to bite Pappa Bush in the ass, the land was no longer his, and Bill Clinton couldn’t wait until tomorrow after using Fleetwood Mac’s 15-year-old #3 hit single “Don’t Stop”.

1996-Present

Bob Dole was, of course, a “Dole Man” (think “Soul Man”) in 1996, despite most deciding they weren’t. Then we get into more recent memory. Among a handful of songs, Dubya used Tom Petty’s Billboard Hot 100 #12 “I Won’t Back Down” and Van Halen’s 1992 video classic “Right Now” to counter the decades old BTO hit “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” used by the Gore campaign. Interestingly enough, as if predicting later troubles, Tom Petty apparently threathened to sue the Bush campaign if they didn’t stop using his song and Van Halen added George W. to their “Right Now” video during the 2004 tour along with the words “right now nothing is more expensive than regret.”

   Johnny Cash – I Won’t Back Down

Whatever your musical tastes, if you’re eligible to vote in the November elections, make sure you get out there and make yourself heard! (And if you’re not sure who to vote for, I suggest Obama-Biden.)