Now that I'm a bit more removed from the madnesss of the convention, I looked back on it from a musician's perspective (since I must admit that is what I spend much of my time doing).
The convention sent a very pleuralistic musical message with the performers they chose.
We are the party of protest songs, they said (Peter, Paul and Mary; "This Land Is Your Land").
We are the party of rap (Black Eyed Peas) and R&B (Wyclef Jean).
We are the party of immigrants (chinese drum ensembles) and of inner city arts initiatives (a wide assortment of minority choirs and dancers).
We are the party of funk, soul and motown (the house band, Patti LeBelle, the obligatory repitition every day of "Go Johnny Go", "Dancin' In The Street", "Celebration" and other DNCC-blessed classics).
We are the party of white men singing with acoustic guitars (Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp) and of women singer/songwriters (Carole King).
We're even the party of amateur opera singers that sing the national anthem (and may I just say that Sergeant Danny Clark from the Massachussetts State Police, who sang on Thursday afternoon, can pull me over on the highway any day...)
But God forbid that we be the party of country. If you are one of the millions of Americans who like country music, the message was clear: bugger off to the RNC. Not necessarily the best message to be sending...I know progressive country singers are in short supply, but I think my point still stands.
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