Toby Keith Praises Obama, Says He's A Democrat

LOS ANGELES — Barack Obama is getting praise from Nashville, courtesy of one big, patriotic country star.

Toby Keith, perhaps best known to non-country audiences for his post-Sept. 11 song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," says he's a Democrat, and was impressed by the senator from Illinois.

Keith has said in the past that the 2002 song _ which included lines aimed at the Taliban like "we lit up your world like the Fourth of July" _ was more patriotic than pro-war.

Asked while promoting his new movie "Beer For My Horses" about the role of patriotism in the current presidential election, Keith replied: "There's a big part of America that really believes that there is a war on terrorism, and that we need to finish up.

"So I thought it was beautiful the other day when Obama went to Afghanistan and got educated about Afghanistan and Iraq. He came back and said some really nice things.

"So as far as leadership and patriotism goes, I think it's really important that those things have to take place. And I think he's the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton. And that's coming from a Democrat."

Comments

[obamaluv]

You are all correct. He is a mouth breathing lynching man. And don't forget that other liberal anti Bush lynching man who is also singing the same song live in concert all over the country. Willie Nelson I personally heard him sing it at a concert in a college town. Although I had to get thru all the pro Obama supporters to hear him. No Mcain supporters in sight.

Watch the video of the song. listen to it. P{eople will not take you seriously when you speak from ignorance.

[Joeblue]

I really think the lynching thing is about the times when in cowboy folklore people who broke the law where lynched and has nothing to do with race. Alot of people do not realize that Merle Haggard has been a democrat all his life and has several anti-war songs out, refused to go to the white house when Nixon invited him, and has a nehpew serving in Iraq.

[reigndog]

My take on the song was that it was about dealing justice for those in power who lie to and steal from the people who trusted them enough to put them in power...

the bad guy in the video wasn't black, he kinda' looked like a frat boy, actually. Watch it again.

[gascelebrations]

Keeping one's name in the news on the cusp of a major movie flop is good business.

[fcsakes]

Suggest Mr. Keith stick to a business he knows.

[meanguy]

that's what i've been suggesting for obama; like writing more books about his own wonderfulness

[MilwaukeeMike]

I think it is the best endorsement Obama has received to date.

[momofsonofwar]

this man don't give a s h i t about you or even me, so Toby shut up and go away.

[dRwOOD]

Does anyone really give a Sh*t what this guy has to say??

[FlyingEagel]

dRwOOD . . Believe it or not . .YES . .I personally do not but people mag just paid $14 Mil for baby pics. It makes me wonder why anyone would buy a mag just to see Bradjolina's Babies.

[carlgt1]

hmmm, sounds like he's just trying to backtrack from his pro-lynching song....

[lexnekst]

Seriously. Is this a compliment?

"So I thought it was beautiful the other day when Obama went to Afghanistan and got educated about Afghanistan and Iraq. He came back and said some really nice things."

Obama hasn't changed his position on either since he got back, he didn't "get educated" in 1 week.

He went to Harvard. Toby Keith went to Nashville school of Chewin Tobaccy. Stick to making that crap that you mouth-breathers call music.

[meanguy]

and what, pray tell, did he learn about afghanistan at harvard? he obviously missed consitutional law 101, or at least the chapter on the 2nd amendment

so, you don't like country music, and are consumed with hate for those who do...what'­s your preferred music? yanni at the acropolis? john tesh at red rocks? or the jonas brothers?

[Beowolf741]

I'm sorry I haven't been paying attention to my country western singers(CWS) enough. I hate to say it but they all look alike with their cowboy hats and beards. Didn't some other male CWS criticize Obama for not talking and walking enough like a black person should?

[lexnekst]

That would be this same redneck. He apparently thinks 1 week in Afghanistan "got obama educated"- Shows how much he knew about the wars, he claims to care about.

And you're right, I cant tell any of these hicks apart. Big Hat, Tight Pants, Red Neck.

[meanguy]

well, he WAS giving obama some extra credit-it's going to take a LOT longer to educate obama

[ccmd]

Huffpost you're slipping. Where is the related article link at the end of this thread of keith saying this about Obama "the only reason he is in [the general election] is because he talks, acts and carries himself as a Caucasian.­"??? Keith dont try to jump on the band wagon because you are losing fans. Then again....

[Juneau1]

I don't believe Toby. He just made the "he acts white" comment about Obama. He probably just said this to get in the news.

[BlackJAC]

Just shut up and sing, Toby. If you don't like the fact that Real Americans don't want to buy your music, you can go back to your mansion and cry into your big sack of money.

[gotnostyle]

Don't listen to this man, Toby. Please don't sing.

[teknofyl]

That was beautiful; I just spit up some coffee.

[rockyersocksoff]

EXACTLY what the right-wing jingoists including Toby Keith were yelling at the Dixie Chicks 5 years ago.

Way to become what you ostensibly dislike.

[meanguy]

yes, that big sack of money and mansion came from the people who don't want to buy his music...

[saltpeter]

Or Maybe it's just that Toby Keith has been getting some level-headed marijuana-induced advice from Willie Nelson, who knows?

[Juneau1]

Now that was funny/!

[saltpeter]

Once upon a time, Toby Keith and his ilk used to be die-hard Democrats until the GOP mounted a BS culture war that too many good ol' boys took the bait on. But, ALAS, many of them are starting to come around and realise while they were busy bashing immigrants and gays all of their jobs were being shipped overseas by the same GOP they had voted for. And all of the sudden their right to NASCAR on demand and beer for their horses seemed a bit less important if they weren't able to pay for any of it. REAL DEMOCRATS should be glad that it is reassembling it's base and take advantage of the failings of the GOP to recoup some of the Democratic base loss over the last 28 years. Whether it is through the slow deliberate death of the influence of unions or the economic shift from a GM-centric to a Wal-mart-centric economy that has led too many in DNC to saddle up with GOP policies that has been the Democratic undoing doesn't matter. Now is the time to regain what we can and take every GOP castaway we can get.

You have to remember it has been the Republican party that has been able to imposed more damage upon itself over the last 8 years than the Democratic Party was able to inflict on the GOP in 30. A chance for gains in support may not come around like this again.

[Johnagain]

A very insightful post. If the Democratic Party doesn't re-assemble itself now, our country will sink further. And a quick look around the world shows that we have plenty further to sink. We are becoming more and more like the other countries in our hemisphere, where a very rich upper class reigns over a small beleaguered middle class and an enormous low-wage underclass. America will be a great place to live only if your net worth is in excess of $5 million. Canada, on the other hand, will become more like Sweden or France, with fewer millionaires, but more people in the middle able to build a secure future. We're already seeing this taking place. The Democratic Party is the only legitimate entity left that stands to halt or reverse this trend. Unfortunately it is still full of DINOs.

[goatboyslim]

Exactly. If you're not rich, why vote Republican.

[ChaoticSmelt]

To overturn Roe v. Wade, because that is, after all, the ONLY issue that matters for way too many republican voters. Bill Maher has it right: we'll never get the smartest person in the room into the oval office until 2/3 of Americans decide that it might actually be helpful to read some newspapers or watch the news and dig into real issues. As long as anyone cares about is "American Idol," we're doomed!

[530Rose]

Lots of my clients are very conservative charismatic christians who are quite poor. They take advantage of all the democrats social programs, but vote republican time after time although it would be much better for them to vote Democrat. They don't understand that the tax cuts are for the rich and will not benefit them. They don't join the military. The ONLY issue they vote on is choice.

[gaither83]

What's a REAL DEMOCRAT?

[saltpeter]

"A Real Democrat" is someone who realizes that the limitations of our two-party sysem make the Democratic party by default often the party of those in the political and economic margins and many of the "sh*t kickers" that have been known to listen to Toby Keith have found themselves in the last two decades on the economic and political margins. And though the GOP, at times did a better job of appealing to these working class whites emotions (by using gays, immigrants and welfare moms as wedges), some of those working men and women are beginning to realise that this rhetoric was meant to distract them from the bigger picture, their economic future role in America. The failure of the Bush administration made that abundantly clear. A REAL DEMOCRAT would realise that working class voters once served as the democratic base long before the advent and expansion of the urbane liberal intellectual. They both have a place in the party because neither sure as hell aren't TRULY important to the agenda of the neo-cons.

TOO MUCH division will wreck the Democratic Party again and again. If Toby Keith can accept Obama, then you need to accept the likes of Toby Keith back to their long-lost party. That or start lobbying to dismantle the Constitution so that America can have a Parliamentary government so that people who are only united in their contempt for the political right don't have to God forbid share the same party.

[chicagoken]

Hmm, I think I'll go out and buy his CD. Look, this is a good thing I for one think we should welcome everyone into the Democratic party. We're happy Ariana joined us aren't we.

[joselopez]

To me that seemed like a back handed slap. "Get Educated on Afghanistan" Obama has been right on Afghanistan since day one. McCain is the one that needs to get educated on Afghanistan. He does not even know where it is situated on the globe.

[westcoastsc]

Jeez. He's just a good ol' boy. Never meaning no harm. How can you hang on his every word, when you would not have these same expectations of someone you met at a Texas dive bar?

[andiammisterbones]

I think that Old Toby draks some of the GOP cool aid, but it's still having a bit of a hang over.
GOPropaganda takes some time to get over.

I, for one, hope he remains this way.

[lexnekst]

Exactly.

It makes you wonder what this guy knew about the issues.

The only thing that happened when Obama came back, was that McCAIN FLIP=FLOPPED and said "16 months sounds pretty good."

I understand how he can be confused though, if you watch CNN you'd think Iraq was won already, and they have so little time in 24 hours for substantive news.

[RezidentBivrip]

Toby hasn't changed positions at all, it's just he said something Huffpo could quote positive about Obama. He's BEEN a democrat, he's been thoughtful, and he's been positive about Obama for a while now. He hasn't said who he was voting for yet, but he could very well vote for Barack. The problem is people judge him because of the "Put a boot in yer ass..." line from a song written a week or so after 9/11 when the entire nation was hyper pissed off and black eyed. Either way, I like Toby Keith, I think he's a good guy. There's nothing wrong with loving America.

[Outrageous]

Yes, they judge him on that song... and on his fascist views of free speech when spoken by the Dixie Chicks. Oh, and also on saying less than a month ago that Obama does not speak or act "black enough." Good guy, that Toby.

[RezidentBivrip]

First off, The Dixie Chix threw the first stone in that fight. They said that Courtesy of the Red White & Blue was an ignorant song and that it made country music look ignorant.

If you listened to the interview he said he thinks black folks would say Obama doesn't talk or act black.

Being a black person who speaks intelligently, I've heard (Unfortunately so) from people in my own family that I "Sound White" or "Act White" Being black in America, especially in the spotlight, you run the very real risk of being considered an "Uncle Tom" by black people. For years the joke was that Bryant Gumbel was trying to be white because he spoke without slang or with any "black sounding" accent.

Not to mention what Toby said is to a large extent true. He said blacks would say Obama is where he is because he "Acts white". I've heard almost those EXACT words in my community. So hearing it from Toby isn't mind boggling nor offensive. It's how a lot of people feel, and not just blacks. if Obama was more "Urban" he wouldn't be the nominee right now, even if everything else was exactly the same, if he came to the stump and his speech patterns sounded like Ludacris or 50 Cent, even if he said the EXACT same things, he wouldn't be our nominee right now. Sorry, I'm rambling now.

[ccmd]

Where is the related article link at the end of this thread of keith saying this about Obama "the only reason he is in [the general election] is because he talks, acts and carries himself as a Caucasian.­"??? Keith dont try to jump on the band wagon because you are losing fans. Then again....

[totaldisbelief]

Well when a Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy Singer says Obama's OK ,then I guess I only have my favorite Quarterback to chime in with his opinion to help me make my choice for President of the USA.
I do so want to make an informed decision.