A new meaning to the West wing
They’re not everyone’s cup of tea, but the many fans of rock band The Eagles will be familiar with wild child guitarist Joe Walsh’s flirtation with high-level politics in 1980. On that year’s Eagles Live album, as New Kid in Town fades out, a band member is heard introducing a raucous crowd to ‘‘the next president of the United States, Mr Joe Walsh’’.
Walsh confirms to the audience ‘‘I’m running for president, appreciate your vote’’, and then launches into the self-penned Life’s Been Good, which he reportedly fancied as a replacement national anthem, with its lyrics rich in rock’n’roll excess: ‘‘I live in hotels, tear out the walls; I have accountants, pay for it all’’.
Wikipedia characterises Walsh’s run as ‘‘a mock campaign’’, and it’s hard to argue it was serious, given its slogan of
‘‘Free Gas For Everyone’’. That is about as close as we’ve been to a popular musician running for the highest office in US politics. Though it’s worth mentioning that the presidency, and a remarkable 489 of the 538 electoral college votes that year, went to a celebrated Hollywood actor, Ronald Reagan.
It has yet to be confirmed whether billionaire rapper Kanye West’s suggestion at the weekend that he is running for the presidency this year is serious or not. He declared his intention in a tweet: ‘‘We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States!’’ he posted, along with the hashtag #2020VISION.
At first glance, it may seem like a joke or a publicity stunt, but West, never shy of putting himself firmly in the public eye, has form, having previously indicated he planned to run in 2024. His latest flirtation with the idea of a White House tilt quickly received the endorsement of another billionaire, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Ordinarily, the idea of a run for office by a celebrity like West would be treated with a healthy degree of scepticism, a mere distraction from the serious business of choosing a ‘‘leader of the free world’’. The fact that he has yet to take any formal steps to start the process suggests a similar reaction here.
As CNN reported, those steps include registering with the Federal Election Commission, presenting a campaign platform, and collecting enough signatures to get on the ballot in November. He has already missed the deadline to register as an independent candidate in six states, though he could still be eligible as a write-in candidate, meaning voters could write his name on their ballot papers.
However, the mere possibility of his candidacy does add a degree of intrigue to a November presidential election already shaping up as different from any other. President Donald Trump, widely panned for his response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with US deaths having topped 132,000, lags significantly behind presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden in many polls, Politico reports.
The most interesting question about a run by a celebrity with the towering public profile of West, who endorsed Trump in 2018 but is believed to have changed tack, is who he would take votes away from. It’s doubtful being the candidate who caused Trump to win a second term would do much for that profile.
The mere possibility of his candidacy does add a degree of intrigue to the election ...