John Mellencamp is a liberal, and he wants Republicans to leave his music alone.
For all the Farm Aid, small towns, ain’t-that-America heartland imagery that Mellencamp has made musical hay with over the decades since he hit the scene as Johnny Cougar, the man from Seymour, Indiana sits firmly in the camp that many in those areas see as effete, elitist, and even Socialist.
Over the years, Mellencamp has sung in support of Democrat causes, and in outright opposition to Republicans. Back in 1989, he sang about Ronald Reagan:
He ain’t a-gonna help no children
He aint a-gonna help no women
He just gonna help his rich friends.
– “Country Gentleman”, from the Big Daddy album
Mellencamp’s publicist has called him “a guy who would find no argument if you characterized him as an ardent leftist”. According to the Washington Post, Mellencamp’s wife was a delegate at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
The National Organization for Marriage once tried to use Mellencamp’s music at events opposing same-sex marriage. Mellencamp’s people sent them a letter, informing them that he opposed their agenda, and asking that they “find music from a source more in harmony with your views than Mr. Mellencamp in the future.”
@flyoverangel He thinks that the way to be 'taken seriously' in musician circles is to be a raging Leftist. And he has a need for attention.
— Vile Koch Myrmidon (@heatpacker) April 17, 2014
The Washington Times now reports that Mellencamp is at odds with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, known to most liberals as the guy who shut off collective bargaining rights for public employees in a spectacle that brought that state to a very public standstill.
Scott Walker, now stumping for re-election, regularly plays Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses” over the loudspeakers at his events, with its refrain of, “Ain’t that America, for you and me … home of the free”.
It’s not the first time Walker has used Mellencamp’s music. When he faced a recall election after the collective bargaining fight, he used Mellencamp’s “Small Town”, and was sent an email asking him to stop. But now he’s using Mellencamp’s music again.
“You don’t have to agree with his politics to like his music,” Walker has said.
@flyoverangel Mellencamp is starting to look like Warren Oates. He's well-know here in IN as an uneducated, loudmouthed Prog VIP wannabe.
— Vile Koch Myrmidon (@heatpacker) April 17, 2014
Maybe not to like it, but if he’s going to use it, his campaign manager should at least consider how bad it looks when a liberal who supported farmers in the Midwest gets free press — again — for asking him to stop.
Image via YouTube