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Recent Projections
| State | Candidate | Delegates |
|---|---|---|
 Donald Trump | ||
Pennsylvania |  Joe Biden |
Clinton Asks Supporters to Name That Tune
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., promises to sing a happy tune if elected.
May 16, 2007 — -- Blazing a trail down the information superhighway toward Pennsylvania Avenue, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is in the market for a theme song to blare from her presidential campaign bus.
And not surprisingly in this do-it-yourself election, she's reaching out online to find one.
YouTube's You Choose '08 -- the popular video sharing site's voter education program that lets visitors engage in video conversations with presidential candidates -- turned its high beams on Clinton this week.
Clinton took the humorous route.
Feigning seriousness in her YouTube spot, the junior senator from New York discloses that the campaign has a major problem: It lacks a campaign song.
"I want to know what you're thinking on one of the most important questions of this campaign. It's something we've been struggling with, debating, agonizing over for months," Clinton says in the video released Wednesday.
Clinton then asks members of YouTube's community to help name that tune.
"So, now, I'm turning to you, the American people. Here's the issue: What do you think our campaign song should be?"
Cutting to a clip of herself singing an off-pitch, out-of-tune version of the National Anthem, she quips, "Whatever song you choose though, I make you this solemn and sacred promise ... I won't sing it in public unless I win!"
Some songs the Clinton camp has already put on the table include "Get Ready" by The Temptations; "Right Here, Right Now" by Jesus Jones, a song she entered into at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting back in December (she exited to "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," though that song didn't make the list) and popular "female empowerment" anthem "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall.
Voters also have the option of suggesting their own and, no, it appears Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop," used by famously her husband in his successful bid was not on the preliminary list.
Traditionally, campaign songs were more than what played in the background. Like any good jingle, they set the tone, tune and meter of the candidate's agenda.
It's only in recent years that campaigns have drawn from the pop culture pool for their greatest hits.
Dating as far back as the 17th century, politicians looked to catchy, personalized ditties to make them memorable on the trail. Americans relied on music to advance the socio-political agendas of the day.
In the 1920s, as mass media unfurled its influence across the national political arena, the unique fingerprint of campaign songs followed.
In 1932, the country sank into the Depression, and the Democrats chose "Happy Days Are Here Again," a departure from the nation's mood but reflecting an overall positive outlook.
In 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy's theme song, a remade version of "High Hopes" sung by Frank Sinatra, reflected the youth and optimism of his campaign against Richard Nixon.
In more recent campaigns, Vice President George H.W. Bush's took the traditional route with "This Land is Your Land" in 1988; independent billionaire Ross Perot's chose the seemingly appropriate Patsy Cline classic "Crazy" for his outsider bid in 1992; and "No Surrender" meant to convey Sen. John Kerry's fighting zeal in 2004.
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