Monday, July 24th 2017 (WASHINGTON) – In politics the new rule is to expect the unexpected and never write-off the competition just because they have no political experience.
When a website promoting Kid Rock went up earlier this month, many people thought it was a joke or a publicity stunt to sell more albums, concert tickets and swag. But the 46-year-old rock star put those rumors to rest, announcing over social media that the website and the campaign are the real deal.
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Kid Rock, born Robert James Ritchie, is probably best known as the rebellious redneck millionaire rock star, but in 2018 he is hoping to get a new title, Republican Senator from Michigan.
“I am the captain now,” Kid Rock said in an obscenity-laced campaign message last week, confirming his plans to file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.
Those expressing doubts about the candidate’s viability should look no further than Donald Trump’s successful transition from a reality television star to President of the United States.
That success has opened the door to all kinds of wild possibilities: The president of the Senate would be ready with gavel in hand for Kid Rock’s maiden speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, broadcast live on C-SPAN, a speech that might open like his 1998 hit single, Bawitdaba, “My name is Kiiiid Rock!” And if Sen. Rock staged an all-night filibuster, fans would be lined up around the Capitol, tailgating and hoping for gallery seats to see the greatest deliberative body on earth.
See a complete list of celebrities who might step into the political arena:
Kid Rock has been around politics for years. He performed at Barack Obama’s inauguration, though he disagreed with the president’s politics. Kid Rock endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012, a man he later described as “the most decent motherf***** I’ve ever met in my life.” He also backed Donald Trump in 2016, calling his campaign “entertaining as s***.”
Kid Rock has also toured military bases around the country performing for U.S. troops and veterans, and traveled overseas to perform concerts for soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But the Romeo, Michigan native is short on political experience. Plus, he has a long list of what would typically be considered political liabilities including drug use, a sex tape, an arrest after a fight at a Waffle House, just to name a few.
Jeffrey P. Jones, director of the Peabody Awards and University of Georgia entertainment and media professor noted that for a certain voters, Kid Rock is “absolutely” a viable candidate for office.
“If it’s a nation that is engaged in populist thinking, that is you look down at government, these people are as qualified as anyone else in certain voters’ eyes,” he said.
The appeal of the celebrity politician also runs deep, Jones added. “People feel like they know celebrities, they feel like they have a personal relationship with celebrities in a way that they don’t with just some candidate who is being offered up by a political party.”
Rumors of Kid Rock’s Senate bid originated at the Michigan Republican Party’s February convention, but so far the party’s leadership has not offered a public statement on Rock’s candidacy.
The general feeling of disconnect from Washington and political insiders was manifest most clearly in the 2016 election when voters elected Donald Trump over career politician Hillary Clinton.
“The federal government seems like a very distant, strange and oftentimes intrusive entity that they don’t see actually benefiting their daily lives,” explained Kendall Phillips, University of Syracuse professor who researches the intersection of politics and celebrity.
The problem in Washington, Phillips noted, is that public policy and politicians have become unrelatable. “So [voters] are looking to personalities that are more relatable, and sort of by definition, celebrities are more relatable personalities.”
For that reason, it is hard to discount the seriousness of Kid Rock’s Senate campaign, or any other celebrity seeking office.
That was also the message from Politico over the weekend, when it published an article warning it “might be a huge miscalculation” to write-off the rock star’s campaign as a mere publicity stunt. The outlet quoted Dennis Lennox, a Republican political consultant in Michigan who said of Kid Rock, “I think he’s the prohibitive favorite if he gets in.”
A few days earlier a small independent media company, Delphi Analytica, published a poll showing Kid Rock with a four-point lead in a hypothetical race against Stabenow.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow issued a brief message on Twitter earlier this month in response to Kid Rock’s potential Senate run. “I know we both share a love of music. I concede he’s better at playing guitar and I’ll keep doing what I do best: fighting for Michigan.”
Kid Rock blew apart the senator’s mild comments in a blog post, conceding that Stabenow is “better at playing politics than I am so I’ll keep doing what I do best, which is being a voice for tax paying, hardworking AMERICANS and letting politicians like her know that We the People are sick and tired of their bulls***!”
Kid Rock took aim at Stabenow and the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) again last week tweeting an image of his dinner asking, “What do you think Schumer is spoon-feeding Stabenow tonight?”
For Mark Wheeler, author of “Celebrity Politics” and professor at London Metropolitan University, the intersection of celebrity and politics is nothing new for America.
“U.S. celebrity culture has a long history in politics,” he said, noting that in Europe and the U.K. that relationship is “more reserved.”
Whether its politicians receiving endorsements from Hollywood actors or musicians, or stars themselves running for office, Wheeler observed that in America, “entertainment and politics go hand in hand” with a political culture that “values meritocracy and the engagement of citizens.”
The fact that the American people see celebrities as viable political candidates represents “a populist streak” for sure, said Jones, “and American has had that for well over 200 years.”
A look back at America’s celebrity politicians:
But experts agree that the tide of populism, particularly in the conservative movement, has been on the rise for the past 30 years, since former Hollywood cowboy Ronald Reagan won the presidency with a the message that “government is the problem.”
“That became sort of the mantra for the Republican Party,” Phillips added. “If you believe the whole system is corrupt, you cant keep electing people who are part of the system. What we’re seeing now is the logical extension of that kind of cultural narrative.”
Culminating with the 2016 election of Donald Trump, the American people have increasingly been drawn to outside candidates.
In 1999 Minnesota voters elected pro-wrestler Jessie “the Body” Ventura as their state’s governor. In 2003, The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was elected in California and served two terms as the state’s Republican governor.
In Congress, the star of three MTV reality TV shows, Sean Duffy now serves as the Republican congressman for Wisconsin’s 7th District. And Democratic Senator Al Franken was a comedian and Saturday Night Live cast member before the people of Minnesota elected him in 2002.
Celebrity culture and entertainment culture have grown in a way that even social media celebrities “are being trusted more in representation than a dysfunctional political class which has been seen to be self-serving,” Wheeler said.
“This has meant that modern celebrity politicians such as Donald Trump and I should imagine kid Rock have delivered a populist message to a more interested public who have knowledge of such figures through their popular image.”
Whether that popular image translates into effective governance is a different story.
So far the ultimate celebrity politician, President Trump, has had a hard time getting his policy agenda through, whether its a stalled health care bill or delays in staffing top government positions. Even some of the more troubling aspects of Trump’s presidency, like his response to the Russia investigation, have been attributed to Trump being a political “neophyte,” or “just new to this.”
“Governing is hard,” Jones emphasized. “It’s easy to throw out bromides, it’s easy to throw out ‘throw the bums out’ rhetoric and slogans. But the bottom line is, the issues we face at the local, state and national level are typically very complex and just electing people with no qualification typically is probably not the right thing to do.”
In other words, having a compelling message or a star messenger does not guarantee solid representation. Kid Rock’s lyrics about drinking Jack Daniels and beer can pump up an audience, but is not likely to help Flint’s water crisis, practically speaking.
There have been celebrities who have developed the skill-set to become very effective elected officials and pro-messengers.
But while celebrity and politics often intermingle, success in one field is not a reliable predictor of success in the other, Wheeler advised. “The question is whether people vote for leadership or the appearance of leadership.”
