Kid Rock says he doesn’t mind if a politician on the left or the right wants to crank up his tunes on the campaign trail.

The shaggy crooner is the exception to the rule.

FoxNews.com reports that most singers balk when a Republican wants to co-op their songs for campaign events. Things are mighty different when it’s a Democratic politician singing a familiar song.

On the other hand, Bill Clinton used Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” in his successful 1992 presidential bid, Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry played Springsteen’s “No Surrender” in his 2004 campaign, in 2008 Sen. Barack Obama revived Springsteen’s “The Rising,” and that same year fellow Democrat John Edwards used Mellancamp’s “Our Country.” All of these came and went without objection from the artists. In fact, except for 2008, when Barack Obama was sent a “cease and desist” letter from the legal team for Sam Moore (one half of the legendary duo Sam & Dave) over the unlicensed use of “Hold On, I’m Comin’” as background beat at his rallies, its hard to find examples of Democrats getting taken to task.

In an effort to further promote the message of love, peace, and the type of compassion intrinsic to all dedicated liberals, Alec Baldwin, a paunchy comedian with anger issues, called attention to what he feels is Michele Bachmann’s inability to articulate by inarticulately spewing obscenities in the Minnesota congresswoman’s direction by way of Twitter.

Within seconds of Michele announcing she’d decided to launch a bid for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, it became clear that not one iota of liberal negativity toward conservatives has abated.

Over the past few days, the rock world has joined the fun by publicly stepping forward in an effort to send a message to the latest object of targeted political ridicule, Michele Bachmann. The goal is to drive home the point that liberal rock musicians disapprove of both Bachmann’s politics and her audacity in thinking she actually has a chance to send honorary rock star Barack Obama back to Chicago.

Following Alec Baldwin’s Twitter tirade, Tom Petty, a Mad Hatter in sunglasses, decided it was his turn to deny Bachmann, without explanation, the use of one of his hit songs. Petty is so anti-GOP he forbade Michele Bachmann from playing  “American Girl” as a musical backdrop to her announcement to run for president.

Apparently, the last thing Tom Petty wants to be associated with is writing the signature anthem that could accompany a female Republican candidate on the trip from Minnesota to the White House.  So, to prevent that from happening, the rocker sent a three-word message to Michele: “Cease and desist.” (more…)

For the past few days, media outlets have carried the news that Kid Rock is slated to receive the “Great Expectations Award” from the Detroit branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on May 1, 2010. According to Donnell R. White, interim executive director of the NAACP in Detroit, the reason Kid Rock was chosen for the award was because he has “consistently lifted up the Great Expectations of many persons … concerning the future of the city.”

And anyone who’s ever listened to Kid Rock’s music knows that his love for Detroit runs deep. From songs like “Son of Detroit” to lyrics like “If heaven ain’t a lot like Detroit, I don’t want to go” to his “Made in Detroit” clothing line, Kid Rock has proven himself an undying citizen of the motor city. And when one considers all the struggles Detroit has faced over the past few years, from the financial problems of GM and Chrysler to the large number of manufacturing plants that closed their doors, Kid Rock’s non-stop campaign to see that city return to its glory days should encourage those who live there.

But a few members of the Detroit NAACP aren’t encouraged at all by Kid Rock’s work, nor are they happy that he’s going to receive the “Great Expectations Award.” In fact, they’ve turned a blind eye to his relentless push for Detroit’s rebirth and are instead caught up in the fact that Kid Rock displays a Confederate battle flag during his performances. In their minds, the presence of that battle flag can only mean one thing: Kid Rock is a racist.

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Many Country Music fans first real exposure to Sheryl Crow came with the release of “Picture,” a duet she sang with Kid Rock, in 2002. That was a strange pairing to say the least, because it put a self-proclaimed “Cowboy” who supported the then pending invasion of Iraq with an overt leftist who was anti-war and anti-Bush. But heartland America loved the song, thus Crow seemingly had an “in” with a crowd she probably lacked connections otherwise.

More recently, Crow purchased a home in Nashville, and has popped up at different events there, including last month’s Country Music Awards. To the curious onlooker, it appeared she was courting the Country Music audience, which is understandable because it’s a great group of people to have on your side.

But right in the middle of this apparent outreach to Country Music fans, Crow gave Katie Couric an interview for Glamour magazine, in which she lashed out at Tea Parties and other aspects of the Country Music crowd. As I read the interview, I could only imagine the Dixie Chicks’ former tour manager picking up a copy of Glamour and screaming – “Sheryl, didn’t you learn anything from Natalie Maines’ big mouth?!” (more…)

Wasn’t Kid Rock one of the few pop stars not to pledge allegiance to the destruction of President Bush?

The Bush daughters even wanted him to play at the 2005 presidential inauguration concert.

Now, it seems Kid Rock is going all bipartisan on us. He’s expected to be one of the performers at the Youth Inaugural Ball, to be broadcast tomorrow night (Jan. 20) on MTV.

What happened? (more…)