The Music Row Democrats (MRD) aim to do just that. Founded earlier this year in Nashville by a small group of country music industry leaders who say they were tired of feeling as if they had to apologize for being Democrats, the organization insists it can help Kerry win Tennessee and other battleground Southern states by appealing to the popular music genre’s huge fan base in the region.
“It’s our view that the interests of country music fans, many of whom are middle-class, blue-collar folks, are not being served by the Republican party,” says MRD co-founder Bob Titley. Titley, who is working closely with Kerry campaign insiders as well as country music celebrities, is a prominent Nashville artist manager who insists the goal of the MRD is to assist the party without alienating any in the legion of Nashville Republicans. In fact, Titley’s own clients, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, country music’s hottest duo for the past decade, are staunch Republicans who performed at the GOP Convention in 2000.
“I respect my clients’ political views, and I would hope they respect mine,” says Titley, who’s confident of Kerry’s chances in Tennessee despite the fact that George W. Bush beat Al Gore in the former vice president’s home state in 2000. “We see Tennessee as Kerry’s gateway to the south,” says Titley. “There’ve been thousands of jobs lost here in Tennessee over the last three years. Kerry won the primary over a couple of Southerners, and we think he can win here in the general election.”
The MRD, which is currently recruiting members–500 to date, and counting–is working closely with Kerry’s national co-chair, Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford Jr., (D-Memphis), who spoke before an impassioned crowd of more than 350 members at an MRD meeting in Nashville earlier this month. “The common perception is that people who play country music and their fans all are Republicans, but that is not the case,” says Ford. “There was a huge and very enthusiastic crowd at that meeting. The message here is that big belt buckles and rhetoric will not win the South. John Kerry fought in a war, he’s about creating new jobs, he’s a gun owner and hunter, he’s for better healthcare and education. If anyone should be ashamed to meet Southern farmers and ranchers, it should be George Bush.”
Can music influence Southern voters? Apparently so. In 2001, Dave “Mudcat” Saunders, a rural Democratic strategist, helped Democrat Mark Warner win over conservative rural voters and get elected governor of Virginia–in part by writing new lyrics to a classic bluegrass tune familiar from “The Andy Griffith Show.” The song, which became Warner’s campaign anthem, caught fire and was broadcast everywhere from Virginia radio to CNN. “That song was a way of getting to the rural culture. Kerry can do the same types of things,” says Saunders, who subsequently raised money for John Edwards and then, briefly, for Florida Sen. Bob Graham’s short-lived presidential run. Saunders now supports Kerry. “Music is so much a part of the Southern culture,” he says. ““These Nashville cats [the MRD] are the most powerful folks in country music. They can get this done.”
Or can they? Problem is, many country artists now shy away from talking politics. Ever since the much-publicized bitter feud last year between the Dixie Chicks and Toby Keith over negative comments made by the Chicks about Bush and the resulting ban by various country radio stations of the Dixie Chicks’ music, many country artists–especially the younger stars–are holding their tongues when the subject of politics is raised. Although the MRD has gotten support from a few artists such as Rodney Crowell and Hal Ketchum, and is expecting assistance from historically liberal country stars such as Willie Nelson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kris Kristofferson, Kathy Mattea and Emmylou Harris, several country performers contacted by NEWSWEEK declined to go on the record with their political views.
Many of them said, off the record, that their reluctance is based on the fear of a backlash from country radio. One prominent Nashville music executive who asked for anonymity suggests country artists are actually “scared to death of saying anything that might sound the least bit liberal. There’s this fear that if you say anything, conservative radio companies like Clear Channel won’t play your records. It kind of reminds me of the [Senator Joseph] McCarthy era,” the executive told NEWSWEEK.
A spokesman for Clear Channel Radio denied this charge, but would not speak on the record, instead sending a pre-written statement. “Our company is not operated according to any political agenda or ideology. Local managers make their own decisions about programming and community events,” the statement read. “The corporate offices did not issue a corporate mandate to discontinue playing Dixie Chicks music. Nor did the company destroy the group’s CDs.”
While younger stars may not be willing to join the MRD, lots of country music luminaries are. One of them is songwriter Bobby Braddock, co-author of the mournful country classic “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and many other country hits. “Democrats are just as patriotic as Republicans,” says Braddock. “The Democrats are the party of the middle class and blue-collar people, while the Republicans are the party of the big corporations. The MRD’s 500-plus membership is a garden variety of all kinds of Democrats, including a few lefties and also some moderate conservatives who favor the war in Iraq.”
Still, just as Kerry faces a tough challenge in the South, the MRD faces a stiff challenge getting A-list country acts to speak out for the presumptive Democratic nominee. One major artist who supports John Kerry and supports what the group is doing is afraid to speak out publicly, say MRD leaders.
Meanwhile, Kerry is apparently trying to win over Southern voters by talking more lately about how he’s a big fan of Elvis Presley. And at a recent campaign fund-raiser in New York City, the senator–a longtime classical guitarist–broke out into a performance of the Johnny Cash country classic “Ring of Fire” when he was handed a guitar. Is the senator indeed going country? “I’ll tell anyone who will listen how much I enjoy playing “Ring of Fire,” Kerry told NEWSWEEK. “But I’m working hard for every vote in every region of the country. Whether you’re in Tennessee and West Virginia, or in Ohio and Missouri, people are focused on issues like the 3 million jobs lost on George W. Bush’s watch.”
Congressman Ford is apparently doing his best to see that Kerry connects specifically with the Southern electorate. “Here’s a little scoop for you,”” says Ford. “Sen. Kerry is coming down here [to Tennessee] in April to go turkey hunting with us; we’re scheduling this as we speak. He also plays guitar, you know, and if he doesn’t know any other country songs [besides “Ring of Fire”], he will soon. I’m going to send him a Hank Williams record, for starters.” Could a guest appearance at the Grand Ole Opry be next?
