I think I could get behind that.
I can't say I've followed John Mellencamp's career in recent years. But as the link says, "Despite a long career as a hitmaker, Mellencamp has kept a low profile in recent years. He has not toured and is releasing albums that are more folk in tone and politically charged." (Emphasis mine.)
Given the sort of stuff he was writing in his heyday back in the 1980s, he sounds like exactly the sort of guy we need in the Senate, if he could stand that sort of life for a few years. And he's easily one of the most popular guys in his home state of Indiana.
Here's an excerpt from "Empty Hands" off his amazing 1987 Lonesome Jubilee album:
Through the black snow that lay on the land
Walked home one winter morning
With my life's savings in my hand
Maryanne, she's fixin' up some breakfast
Got the lights on, on the Christmas tree
Sittin' there lookin' up at an angel
With something dyin' inside of me
Grew up with great expectations
Heard the promise and I knew the plan
They say people get what they deserve
But Lord, sometimes it's much worse than that
Maryanne she's takin' in some laundry
I got a part-time job at a drive-in stand
Oh Lord, what did I do
To deserve these empty hands
Across the cities, across this land
Through the valleys, and across the sand
To many people standin' in line
Too many people with nothin' planned
There's too many people with empty hands
I could deal with a few more Senators who occasionally remember that, when times get rough, they get especially rough for ordinary people struggling to get by. If Mellencamp hasn't forgotten that - and it doesn't seem like he has - then the Indiana Democratic Party could do a lot worse than to beg John Mellencamp to be their Senate candidate this year.
UPDATE: In response to litbrit's query, here's the Draft Mellencamp website. It's pretty bare-bones at present, but it's got a link to a petition to the Indiana Democratic Party and some other doodads.
