The Indie Rock Presidential Primary

The great new issue of Under The Radar magazine (Winter '08, Zooey Deschanel & M Ward on the cover) has a section in which they ask various musicians the question:

"Which presidential candidate are you currently supporting in the 2008 election and why?"

Here are some of the responses. Keep in mind, most musicians (like most of the general public) don't know shit about politics.

"If I was American Obama would clearly be my first choice. I'm really disappointed that the Democrats seem to be heading for Hillary. If the Republicans win again, I think it would be hilarious if they had to endorse someone who's into gay rights and is pro-choice, someone like Giuliani. He's still a right dickhead though." - Matt Tong, Bloc Party

"We're not endorsing anyone yet. Hillary's obviously a bit full of shit. Barack was amazing as a local Chicago politician, but seems to be learning the front-runner game now and, like Hillary, has stopped saying anything at all. Edwards has balls. He seems to be an actual friend of the worker. But Kucinich? He's got the biggest balls. He said we should withdraw the U.S. from NAFTA and the WTO as his first act as president. I dig that. We'll have to see how these next months pan out." - Sharon Jones and Bosco Mann

"I really don't know. Obama seems pretty decent as well as straight forward and on the ball, but I haven't really gotten enough to go on as of now. Largely it seems we are still ordering off a menu that offers shit soup, shit sandwich, or shit salad. I personally find it more like we're picking a master than a leader who represents our general views. Maybe it's time we had three presidents since there are so many people. So we can get one person from either side and someone from the middle. That way the person in the middle can be the swing vote to get to the most reasonable ideas. All that said, I don't really think I'm too qualified to get into these sorts of discussions." - Isaac Brock, Modest Mouse

"Dennis Kucinich, because he is the only one who seems like a good person." - Torquil Campbell, Stars

"Of course I can't vote, but if I could I think it would be Obama. He seems to project a brave and stubborn realism, and the will to change the system in order to change the future." - Sondre Lerche

"I think Hillary Clinton, though I have only a vague grasp of the American political system. I do like Barack Obama, though I think, realistically, Hillary has a better chance of winning." - Mark Turvey, The Long Blondes

"They're all the same. Cower to the religious and the right-wing and you'll get votes. I'm more concerned about the North American Union." - Ed Harcourt

"As far as I've paid attention - somewhere between 'moderately interested' and 'not enough to have a fully formed opinion that is rationally justifiable' - Barack is the one." - Dan Smith, Caribou

"I wish Gore would run for office, but I'm leaning towards Barack Obama. Given the choices of Democratic candidates I like the fact that Obama doesn't have as much of a history as Clinton and may not be as entrenched in the politics/past of Washington. Of course, this is hypothetical. I'm sure it doesn't take much time to be neck deep in all that. There's a certain cold, calculating demeanor in Clinton that makes me wary. I'm waiting for the debates as the election nears to feel it all out, though I definitely will not vote Republican." - Brandon Summers, The Helio Sequence

Unfortunately Ed Harcourt seems to be a bit confused as there is no "North American Union".

And someone should tell Isaac Brock to go back the 5th grade and learn all about this nifty group of elected official we call the U.S. Congress.

Related: John McCain is awful, but apparently his daughter has not-awful taste in music: Blur, Pulp, The Smiths, Badly Drawn Boy, "The Editors" [sic], etc.

Comments

[Pete]

I didn't even know they had a candidate who would like the USA to withdraw from WTO. That doesn't seem very smart to me...

Well, it's pretty interesting to follow the US presidential election as a person who doesn't actually live or vote in the US. Politicians like Huckabee seem really bizarre to us over here in Europe.

[torr]

I'm all about big changes to the WTO:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_WTO

[su]

BAM or Bust!

and excuse my french but fuck the WTO, fuck the UN, fuck NATO, GATT, and any and all other economic and political treaties drafted behind closed doors by a handful of rich, priviledged assholes and their lackey con-men rob-the-poor greedmeisters.... dismantle it all, with or without the US

[theholyEYE]

"And someone should tell Isaac Brock to go back the 5th grade and learn all about this nifty group of elected official we call the U.S. Congress."

Oh fuck you! Politics and the Govt are fucking bullshit anymore. I think he has a good point about more than one person, they all tell us what we want to hear and what the others aren't saying anyways. POLITICS AND THE ELECTIONS ARE SHITE!

[nb]

I like that half those people interviewed aren't even American citizens/residents so it's not like they have anything to lose by vocalizing support because they can't vote anyway.
But you know, we'll all like listen to them and stuff because they are rad and indie so um...yeah.

[torr]

I find the idea that people from other parts of the world shouldn't have an opinion on U.S. politics to be utterly absurd.

These musicians were asked their opinion by a magazine, they did not bring the topic up themselves. They have every right to voice their opinion, and American political decisions have a hell of a lot of impact on many other countries of the world.

[su]

torr - true, i totally feel you, but i think the sentiments those hating folks are attempting to express is that having an opinion is one thing, but like in the case of Win Butler, directing your fickle fans to action based on your opinion, is a whole other thing... so you damn better practice what you preach or else the backlash is comin atcha

[torr]

yep, Win Butler actually wasn't part of this article though.

And let's not forget, Win Butler was actually born and raised in Texas, went to prep school in New Hampshire, THEN moved to Canada for college.

[Chuck]

After reading comments from Isaac Brock and "theholyEYE," my opinion that the ignorant should not be allowed to vote is greatly justified.

[Jeff]

Maybe the author needs to go back to fifth grade grammar.

"[I]t seems like we are still order off..."

No one would say that in speech-- that's a transcription error on the part of the author.

Before you make fun of someone for expressing a view, you should have your own fucking ducks in a row. Politics isn't Isaac's business, but writing is yours, and you fucked it up-- proofread much? If you hadn't made a typing mistake in the article you merely would have sounded condescending ith your closing line, instead you now look both condescending and stupid. Congratulations.

[torr]

Typo corrected, and guess what, Isaac still sounds like an ignorant douche.

Nitpicking inconsequential 4 character typos on a blog? You my friend are a prick.

[julie]

Ed Harcourt is an idiot. I hate the "all politicians are bad" mentality.

[reily]

Torquil Campbell is an idiot