You know, American electoral politics has never been the sort of setting for music lovers, as most campaigns tend to gravitate toward the same old safe, moldy, rock and R&B from yesteryear so as to not alienate oversensitive voters with too much of the jumps, jives, and wails that form the ingredients of the "devil's music." (Irony note: The Gap has probably made "Jump, Jive, And Wail" safe for candidate inclusion. Discuss!) Today, after Barack Obama received the endorsement of most of the last living and presumably sober Kennedys, they played "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered," which has only been used by presidential candidates about 8,172,438 times before. (Irony note: Wouldn't it had been AWESOME if they had used the Dead Kennedys? "California Uber Alles," maybe? No? Okay, never mind.)
The Clintons have fared better than most. Bill's use of Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" was pretty inspired, and relatively hip in a setting that won't let poor old Lee Greenwood die, already. But Hillary Clinton, the "most vetted" Democratic candidate in the field, probably should have gone a step further and looked at the music video made for Golden Earring's "When The Lady Smiles" before deploying it as a campaign tune. It's sort of an honest mistake. Unless you are from the band's native country of The Netherlands, as is the eagle eyed blogger whose post on the topic ended up on Boing Boing today, chances are you haven't seen the video. But there's a good reason for that: it was banned by MTV in 1984 because of nudity.
And, uhm...because it depicts the rape of a nun.
Still, the video's depiction of an efficient light rail system is laudable. Plus, it gives us the clearest indication yet that Hillary's healthcare plan will be, if nothing else, exceedingly well-choreographed.