It would be remiss of me not to note that the 110th Congress will have a number of interesting firsts: first female speaker, first Muslim member, and first 70's pop star.
John Hall wasn't supposed to win: he did it with very little support from the people who are supposed to support such things. (I'm talking to you, Rahm Emmanuel.) As the lead singer of Orleans, he made his mark in mid-70's soft rock. He's a longtime supporter of renewable energy, and was a primary mover in the group MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) in the late 70's. He's a guy with a sense of humor. He went on the Colbert Report as a candidate, once the Congressional Republicans stopped talking to SC. He's a smart local politician with good instincts. Maybe he got washed in by the Blue Tsunami, maybe people just liked the idea of a rock star congressman. In any case, he beat an incumbent in a race that wasn't even on the radar for a lot of people, and we here at PowerPop congratulate him.
And he still sings.
Now. How do we get Rick Nielsen to run?
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7 comments:
Re: Cheap Trick.
A certain rock critic even older than me once famously said "Never trust a band with a logo."
Your thoughts?
Well, they're warhorses, no doubt. And they got fucked by the system, repeatedly.
But I've heard Nielsen interviewed a bunch of times, and I think he'd be a really good and interesting candidate. Certainly they've done more to raise the profile of northwestern Illinois than anyone else.
I would make this my personal quest, but didn't Oprah get a restraining order on that guy who wanted her to run for president? I don't want that.
Sure, thye King Missile guy should run...
Mary, don't forget he also wrote one of the best songs on Janis Joplin's Pearl album -- Half Moon.
Orleans redid it on their first album.
(I saw Orleans in the school gym when I was going to college. The opening act? Some unknowns named Hall & Oates!)
- Gummo
John Hall won because the grass roots believed in him and his campaign when no one else did...we rang doorbells, made phone calls, put out signs, donated our time, energy, money and hearts to the race and it paid off.
Now those of us who got him there just have to hope he and the Democratic Majority do not disown us as they move to prove their centrist values.
Amen, Porgia. I think this is the case with a lot of the recently elected. But watch the race on the part of the pundits to discredit exactly the kind of real grassroots activity you describe: I think it terrifies the hell out of them that they might have to deal with actual democracy.
Anyway, congrats! You did great, kiddo!
Just one tiny point about John Hall: the incumbent (that lying bitch Sue Kelly) has yet to concede. Or, to be more accurate, she conceded and then retracted her concession, so technically he hasn't won yet.
I, too, worked on his campaign, and I've got to tell you, the number of people on the Hall campaign -- especially here in Westchester, whose numbers put him over the top -- busting their chops making phone calls and going out and canvassing for him was really incredible, like nothing I've ever seen in this Congressional District before.
Rock on, John!
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