CAMPAIGN CASH

Dem Brings in Country Crooning ‘Cash’ to Appeal to Ordinary Folk

Wannabe senator Rick Weiland of South Dakota channels The Man in Black in a new campaign video.

If you are going to pay homage to Johnny Cash on the campaign trail, you could dress in all black, dabble with drugs, and challenge your opponent to a barroom brawl.

Or you could just stick with the music, which appears to be what Rick Weiland has done.

In a new video released by the campaign, Weiland, a Democrat, celebrates having visited every single incorporated town in South Dakota in his U.S. Senate campaign by paying homage to The Man In Black’s “I’ve Been Everywhere.”

“Well I was on my way to meet with voters at the local coffee shop,” Weiland sings in the video.

When one of my opponents called and said, ‘Rick, when you going to stop?’He said that listening to all what these voters sayain’t going to mean a thing, you know my money is going to rule the dayWell I said you can take all your millions by the sackBut I believe the time has come for us to take our country backWeiland’s band in the video includes his two daughters and his brother.

Weiland, a businessman and a former aide to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, is locked an uphill battle with a host of Republicans for a seat being vacated by the retiring Tim Johnson. And although polls say that Republican front-runner Mike Rounds, South Dakota’s former governor, would trounce Weiland in a general election, Weiland is running as a prairie version of Elizabeth Warren, stressing economic inequality and reigning in the power of special interests.

In an interview from South Dakota, Weiland said that it took over half a year to visit every town in his sprawling state, but that it should be a requirement of all candidates.

“I can’t tell you the nooks and crannies I have been to, towns that I unfortunately hadn’t heard of or knew much about,” he told The Daily Beast. “Talking to people whose towns have been forgotten should a prerequisite for anybody who wants to serve our state in the U.S. Senate.”

As for Cash, Weiland said, “I think he speaks to ordinary folks and a lot of this campaign is about getting our government on the side of ordinary people in our country. He was a common man with a lot of common sense and a common touch.”

As far as we know, no campaign stops at Folsom Prison have yet been scheduled.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

David Freedlander

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.