Mitt Romney picks quite a soundtrack for Paul Ryan introduction
By RICHARD ROEPER August 13, 2012 5:18PM
Kid Rock's summer anthem "Born Free" also serves as MItt Romney's theme song. | AP
Updated: September 15, 2012 6:10AM
That was some bold choice the Romney campaign made last Saturday.
Not Mitt Romney’s decision to tap Paul Ryan as his running mate. Unless the vice presidential pick is a polarizing cartoon such as Sarah Palin, or the presidential candidate is older than Abe Vigoda, it’s not a huge factor in the election.
What I’m talking about is the Romney campaign’s in-your-face choice of introductory music last Saturday morning.
The sounds of “Air Force One.”
That’s a movie about a president — not a candidate. It’s essentially “Die Hard” on a plane, with Harrison Ford playing President James Marshall, who fends off a terrorist attack aboard Air Force One, saves his family, utters the immortal line, “Get off my plane!” as he dispatches the main villain, takes over the controls of Air Force One and zip-lines to safety before the plane crashes into the Caspian Sea.
Gee, why not just play the theme from “The Amazing Spider-Man”?
I’m a TV star, and I like that guy!
The VP announcement also featured Romney’s campaign theme song: “Born Free” by Kid Rock.
If only Romney had selected another song from Kid’s catalog. You know the one I’m talking about. Or that other one. Or the one that’s even filthier than those first two.
In addition to Kid Rock, Romney also enjoys the backing of Clint Eastwood. All great respect to the legend that is Mr. Eastwood, but that should deliver, what, four more votes to Team GOP? Have you ever met anyone that cast a presidential vote based on a celebrity endorsement?
Me neither. Maybe it’s because anyone that would vote for Romney because he’s got Eastwood’s vote, or for Obama because Clooney backs the POTUS, would never admit to it.
Still, we love those stories about President Obama attending a swanky fundraiser hosted by Harvey Weinstein, or Romney talking about his “friend” Kid Rock.
True to precedent, there’s far more star power backing the Democrat this year. The list of celebs endorsing the GOP candidate almost always reads like the lineup for a B-list reality competition show. (Eastwood being an exception, of course.) Romney’s celebrity supporters include Jeff Foxworthy, Scott Baio, Chuck Norris, Orson Bean, Vince McMahon and Tina Sloan of “The Guiding Light.”
And oh yeah, Jenna Jameson. Porn free!
Meanwhile, Obama’s enjoying the support of everyone from Lady Gaga to Michael Jordan to Will Ferrell to Beyonce to Tom Hanks to Julia Roberts to Robert Downey Jr. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Avengers made a group endorsement before November while implying Loki’s a Republican at heart.
Let’s put it this way: you’re never going to see the GOP worrying about a conflict with the Video Music Awards — but a recent headline from the Hollywood Reporter read: “How MTV is hurting Obama’s Democratic National Convention.”
MTV has set the star-studded VMA’s for Sept. 6 in Los Angeles, the night when the president delivers his acceptance speech in Charlotte.
“That means many A-list acts, which normally would have been tapped to perform at parties during convention week, will be tied up in Los Angeles,” says the Reporter.
Which might be the best thing that could happen to the Obama campaign.
I’m hardly one to express disdain for the “Hollywood elite,” and it’s just silly when some conservatives rattle on about know-nothing actors, when in fact some entertainers are quite well-versed and deeply involved in a number of causes — but the last thing the president’s campaign needs is more video of POTUS rubbing elbows with the rich and famous at the DNC.
You might not gain any voters when you get a celeb’s endorsement, but you sure can turn off a good percentage of the electorate if you appear to be tone-deaf to the times by laughing it up with Jay-Z and Tom Hanks when the dominant image should be of the man in charge rolling his sleeves up and saying there’s more work to be done.
