I‘m not big on country music, but if I had to come up with a stereotypical country music video, it would probably look something like this one from the Stand with Hillary PAC.
Right from the beginning, this video is teeming with country. There’s a shot of cowboy boots walking on dirt, lots of images of power lines and blue sky — and every member of the band is wearing a cowboy hat at all times (I assume they must sleep in them) except when they’re wearing hard hats to do construction work.
There’s a tractor pulling a field, and a Ford pickup truck driving along side. And again, gratuitous construction scenes.
And hey! A big red barn! That’s country right?
And don’t you just love the song? Sing along! The words are right there on the screen.
“Learnin’ hindsight’s always right,” the singer begins. Is that a dig at President Obama?
There’s a picture of Hillary Clinton briefly shown before a scene of a family dinner.
Sparklers! Cute little girl! Beautiful woman on motorcycle with gasoline can! Country!
It’s telling that the first thing he actually says about Clinton is that she’s a mother and a daughter. Fact check: mostly true — he left out important context that she is also a grandmother!
He also talks about her standing beside her husband Bill, who lied under oath about cheating on her with a White House intern. Inspiring.
He calls her “caring” and “hard working.” Now we know what her roadside campaign signs will say.
“She fights for country,” he says, clenching his fist for emphasis, “and my family.” He also includes: “Who’s got vision?”
And then: More construction scenes! Welding! Mountains! New York City! Cows! The only thing missing is a dog.
But the video I’d really like to see is the “behind the scenes” version of this one. To the sound of the same song, harried pollsters stroking their chins test all sorts of new ideas with paid focus-group participants, trying to understand exactly why their party has gradually and steadily, over two decades, become less and less appealing to whites, men, rural and working-class voters.
And then it hits them: How about some kind of country music video with a bunch of non-metrosexual country boys driving heavy machinery, pickup trucks, wearing cowboy boots and singin’ about America — and Hillary?
Who’s got vision?
