Hillary's New 'Small Town' Soundtrack

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Mellencamp with Edwards in Iowa last September 

Here's my NEWSWEEK colleague Suzanne Smalley with a report from the Clinton caravan on Hillary's favorite new musical artist.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Hillary Clinton is taking a page out of the Chevrolet marketing book by associating herself with the icon of small town America, John Mellencamp.

Since comments Barack Obama made about people in small towns being "bitter" became public Friday, Clinton's staff has been routinely blasting Mellencamp working man anthems like "Small Town" and "Our Country" at rallies (the latter the soundtrack in those ubiquitous Chevy Silverado ads featuring American icons like Rosa Parks). In Indiana over the weekend and again in blue collar Bristol, Penn. on Monday night, Clinton stirred crowds with the songs' fierce populist messages in an not-so-subtle effort to separate herself from her "elitist" opponent. After months of girl power tunes like Tom Petty's "American Girl" and Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" the new emphasis on Mellencamp was hard to miss.

Clinton might be surprised to learn that despite his man-of-the-people street cred--McCain used "Our Country" at his rallies until Mellencamp, a Democrat, asked him to stop--the rocker has made some Obama-esque comments of his own about small town folks. During an appearance on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher in September, Mellencamp suggested Idahoans' narrow minds are to blame for Senator Larry Craig's bathroom antics and asserted that Americans in the heartland--particularly the ones who supported Fred Thompson because they think he drives a pick-up truck--are "very naïve."

The Clinton campaign did not reply to requests for comment on their use of Mellencamp songs, though privately staffers have joked about their increasing prominence at rallies Clinton has held since Obama's comment about rural Americans first made headlines. "Small Town," with its lyrics celebrating rural life, religion, and economic struggle, has been a particular Clinton favorite in recent days:    

All my friends are so small town
My parents live in the same small town
My job is so small town
Provides little opportunity

Educated in a small town
Taught the fear of Jesus in a small town
Used to daydream in that small town
Another boring romantic that's me

Mellencamp, a co-founder of Farm Aid who still lives in his native Indiana, may be small town, but he sure does talk like a big city guy. People in the heartland "think people are telling them the truth," the rocker told Maher. "And listen, what's wrong with being naïve?" He later agreed with a fellow guest, presidential candidate Mike Gravel, when Gravel pointed out that such Americans "don't have any options" and are "just voting for personalities." And Mellencamp lamented that when he and his wife drive through the Indiana countryside and see Bush/Cheney signs in front of houses they're perplexed until they remember that "these people" were "swindled."  Whether Mellencamp agrees with Obama or not--or wishes that John Edwards, a close friend whom he welcomed onstage back in September, was the one using his songs--Clinton is clearly betting that his small-town anthems will sell people on her candidacy. After all, it worked for Chevy.