This week Republicans from around the country gather in Florida to celebrate all things conservative and curse Issac for stealing the national spotlight. For me the 2012 Republican National Convention marks the true start of the presidential campaign season, the playoffs to the primaries' regular season.
Hard to believe that there have already been two musical controversies for the Romney campaign this year, one concerning the use of a Silversun Pickups' track and the other dealing with Paul Ryan's favorite band.
As a Republican it can be real confusing trying to figure out which bands like you and which bands don't. Here are some clues I've come up with to help any right wing Rocks Off loving candidates avoid the dreaded cease and desist order.
Bands To Avoid
1. Rage Against The Machine, and anyone who's ever toured with them.
While RATM were able to turn tons of people on to political causes they may never have considered before, Paul Ryan is proof that there was always a part of the fan base that was just there to rock out no matter what the lyrics were.
RATM made political music when it wasn't cool to do so (and were absent from the scene when it was) but let's not forget that although they were left leaning they didn't make music for a two party system. Still, Republicans would be smart to avoid them unless they want an op-ed to them in Rolling Stone.
2. Anyone who played a fundraiser for John Kerry or appeared on a Rock Against Bush compilation.
Although Romney doesn't inspire the same about of anger our former governor did, their politics aren't exactly worlds away. If someone had a serious dislike of Bush for anything more than superficial reasons then those same people should equally dislike this year's Republican nominee.
Unless any of those bands had a change of heart (or decided to back away from politics for the sake of their cash flow) they're probably still all off limits. It's a shame because I think someone hitting the stage to Against Me! and their song "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" would have been delightful.
