#VoteYerMusic - The 2020 Edition
In my last post, I spoke of my experiment from the 2008 election where I asked every
candidate to respond to me and tell me what they were listening to.
With 25-some candidates, I thought I would do the same in 2019. a little of what I learned.
For starters, every major candidate has the same exact website. The template for each one is exact. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised but I was. For the most part, there is a gateway asking for money, or at least an email address. From there, it’s all pretty much the same. I mean, Andrew Yang’s site has cool automated Yang’s, Tim Ryan has a pic of him wearing Cleveland Browns gear and so on. Still, they are all the same.
They also -are as Time magazine reported in June- all have some sort of accessibility issues if you are an user with a disability.
My initial thought was with this many candidates, any positive interaction they could turn around would be an incentive. Heck, even by the numbers, I figured I would stumble across a few responses.
That said, what I also learned is that in the modern day, you don’t contact candidates. “Don’t call us. We’ll call you” seems to be the mantra. It seems counter-intuitive in the time of so much social media, but perhaps that is the freezing effect.
In any case, I would like to note that candidates Booker, Biden, Sanders, Gillibrand, Ryan, and DeBlasio do not have the option on their website to contact them. Additionally, none of them accept Twitter DMs if you are not following them (and maybe even then), so you can’t contact them there either.
Oh, I could call them out on social media (I still could), tag them, what not; but I wanted to keep my experiment pure. Besides they need me more than I need them. I know. I get their emails begging for a dollar so they can get into the debates.
Let’s also consider that most everyone I emailed was quick to add me to their mailing list. Like so much in life, people won’t help you, but they aren’t shy about asking you for help. (From mailing lists, I learned Gov. Bullock is the only candidate to win a state-wide election in a Trump '16 state. Also, Jay Inslee had the new Queer Eye guys modeling his PRIDE shirts)
The premise of #voteyermusic is pure fun. Admit it, at its heart, the idea that you might vote for someone because they like music is at best, flawed.
Still, there are two reasons why I do this. One is that I believe that music is the great uniter.
Why we picture most musicians as hippie minded liberals or freedom loving libertarians- someone like Willie Nelson or Pete Seeger or Joe Strummer or Y2K-era Neil Young. But some musicians are red state conservatives like Johnny Ramone, Ted Nugent, and 80s era Neil Young.
Why shouldn’t there be some common ground with Springsteen and Mellencamp, Patti Smith and Jackson Browne, Grace Slick and Steve Earle and GOP rockers like Deadhead John Kasich or Bass Player Mike Huckabee.
If there’s a rock n roll Heaven, then maybe we could find common ground.
I would like to believe, of course, that politicians should be responsive to the people.
I get it, you want everything scripted so you don’t say something like ‘corporations are people, and you could say something that people might not like; but at the end of the day, we liked John McCain more when we discovered he loved ABBA, not less.
Politicians are getting further away from their constituents, not closer. Donald Trump didn’t take questions from the crowd as he ran for President, and now, Joe Biden is doing the same thing.
So what was the result of me reaching out to 25 Democratic candidates?
I got only one response!
With such avowed fans of punk like Beto and DeBlasio on one side and jam band supporters like Mayor Pete and Hickenlooper- I thought for sure, this would be a lay up- the easiest of questions that might come across their desk.
It wasn’t. I got a few responses but they were meager. There was an automated response from Elizabeth Warren that said something to the effect of 'she gets tons of emails and responding to each one would be a real chore'.
I got a similarity worded automatic response from Tulsi Gabbard, though more reassuringly, it stated that despite the volume, she does read every single one.
Eric Swalwell likewise, answered not to expect a response but his staff provided a phone number if the issue was urgent enough.
John Hickenlooper’s team responded that they would get it to him. This was the closest I had gotten, and I figured knowing his musical ties, it was just a matter of time before I had something back in my inbox. I am still waiting.
Yes, I love music but I always considered this something bigger. Besides, I always reasoned if a politician can’t handle a softball question from me, how are they going to sit across the table from Kim Jong-Yun? Is my question any less important because it’s trivial?
Then it arrived. It came from Admiral Joe Sestak, a candidate who got in late because of family health issues, but has been trying to make up for lost time and meet as many voters as he can.
Thank you for your patience…and here is my answer:
Simon and Garfunkel to Pink
Sounds of Silence, I am a Rock, What About Us
However, recently it has been Tom Petty and I Won’t Back Down.
Hope you are having a great weekend!
Respectfully,
Joe Sestak
So, there you go.
I know there are many factors that go into selecting a candidate, but please consider that Admiral Sestak was the only major Democratic candidate who responded to little ‘ol me (and let’s face it- I am the kind of person who might vote for someone just because they like Tom Petty.)
While I plan to continue my blog reporting on local Iowa events, I might revisit #voteyermusic as necessary. Indeed, I plan on reaching out to Libertarians, independents and some lesser known candidates, and will feature their responses here, if they are willing to answer my question. I will even entertain some of those candidates that might have missed my question. It’s never too late. Keep your eyes here for more to come.
If you can't think of another reason to vote, at least #voteyermusic!
With 25-some candidates, I thought I would do the same in 2019. a little of what I learned.
For starters, every major candidate has the same exact website. The template for each one is exact. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised but I was. For the most part, there is a gateway asking for money, or at least an email address. From there, it’s all pretty much the same. I mean, Andrew Yang’s site has cool automated Yang’s, Tim Ryan has a pic of him wearing Cleveland Browns gear and so on. Still, they are all the same.
They also -are as Time magazine reported in June- all have some sort of accessibility issues if you are an user with a disability.
My initial thought was with this many candidates, any positive interaction they could turn around would be an incentive. Heck, even by the numbers, I figured I would stumble across a few responses.
That said, what I also learned is that in the modern day, you don’t contact candidates. “Don’t call us. We’ll call you” seems to be the mantra. It seems counter-intuitive in the time of so much social media, but perhaps that is the freezing effect.
In any case, I would like to note that candidates Booker, Biden, Sanders, Gillibrand, Ryan, and DeBlasio do not have the option on their website to contact them. Additionally, none of them accept Twitter DMs if you are not following them (and maybe even then), so you can’t contact them there either.
Oh, I could call them out on social media (I still could), tag them, what not; but I wanted to keep my experiment pure. Besides they need me more than I need them. I know. I get their emails begging for a dollar so they can get into the debates.
Let’s also consider that most everyone I emailed was quick to add me to their mailing list. Like so much in life, people won’t help you, but they aren’t shy about asking you for help. (From mailing lists, I learned Gov. Bullock is the only candidate to win a state-wide election in a Trump '16 state. Also, Jay Inslee had the new Queer Eye guys modeling his PRIDE shirts)
The premise of #voteyermusic is pure fun. Admit it, at its heart, the idea that you might vote for someone because they like music is at best, flawed.
Still, there are two reasons why I do this. One is that I believe that music is the great uniter.
Why we picture most musicians as hippie minded liberals or freedom loving libertarians- someone like Willie Nelson or Pete Seeger or Joe Strummer or Y2K-era Neil Young. But some musicians are red state conservatives like Johnny Ramone, Ted Nugent, and 80s era Neil Young.
Why shouldn’t there be some common ground with Springsteen and Mellencamp, Patti Smith and Jackson Browne, Grace Slick and Steve Earle and GOP rockers like Deadhead John Kasich or Bass Player Mike Huckabee.
If there’s a rock n roll Heaven, then maybe we could find common ground.
I would like to believe, of course, that politicians should be responsive to the people.
I get it, you want everything scripted so you don’t say something like ‘corporations are people, and you could say something that people might not like; but at the end of the day, we liked John McCain more when we discovered he loved ABBA, not less.
Politicians are getting further away from their constituents, not closer. Donald Trump didn’t take questions from the crowd as he ran for President, and now, Joe Biden is doing the same thing.
So what was the result of me reaching out to 25 Democratic candidates?
I got only one response!
With such avowed fans of punk like Beto and DeBlasio on one side and jam band supporters like Mayor Pete and Hickenlooper- I thought for sure, this would be a lay up- the easiest of questions that might come across their desk.
It wasn’t. I got a few responses but they were meager. There was an automated response from Elizabeth Warren that said something to the effect of 'she gets tons of emails and responding to each one would be a real chore'.
I got a similarity worded automatic response from Tulsi Gabbard, though more reassuringly, it stated that despite the volume, she does read every single one.
Eric Swalwell likewise, answered not to expect a response but his staff provided a phone number if the issue was urgent enough.
John Hickenlooper’s team responded that they would get it to him. This was the closest I had gotten, and I figured knowing his musical ties, it was just a matter of time before I had something back in my inbox. I am still waiting.
Yes, I love music but I always considered this something bigger. Besides, I always reasoned if a politician can’t handle a softball question from me, how are they going to sit across the table from Kim Jong-Yun? Is my question any less important because it’s trivial?
Then it arrived. It came from Admiral Joe Sestak, a candidate who got in late because of family health issues, but has been trying to make up for lost time and meet as many voters as he can.
Thank you for your patience…and here is my answer:
Simon and Garfunkel to Pink
Sounds of Silence, I am a Rock, What About Us
However, recently it has been Tom Petty and I Won’t Back Down.
Hope you are having a great weekend!
Respectfully,
Joe Sestak
So, there you go.
I know there are many factors that go into selecting a candidate, but please consider that Admiral Sestak was the only major Democratic candidate who responded to little ‘ol me (and let’s face it- I am the kind of person who might vote for someone just because they like Tom Petty.)
While I plan to continue my blog reporting on local Iowa events, I might revisit #voteyermusic as necessary. Indeed, I plan on reaching out to Libertarians, independents and some lesser known candidates, and will feature their responses here, if they are willing to answer my question. I will even entertain some of those candidates that might have missed my question. It’s never too late. Keep your eyes here for more to come.
If you can't think of another reason to vote, at least #voteyermusic!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete