Poll!

WHAT SHOULD THE CAMPAIGN SONGS OF THE 2004 ELECTION BE? THE ZINE STAFF VOLUNTEERS ITS PICKS.

Kerry: “CIA” (The Fugs), “Working Class Hero“ (John Lennon), “Don’t You Want Me Baby” (Human League), “One Tin Soldier” (Joan Baez)

However, a direct positive result of Bush’s supreme failures as president has been the coalescence of millions of American voters disgusted with what the United States has become and determined to defeat the boy king at all costs. Unprecedented grassroots efforts led by anti-Bush activists have sprung up all over the country registering voters and campaigning for the only man who can prevent four more years of Republican hubris, Democratic nominee John Kerry.

Nowhere has this swell of action been more noticeable than in the normally bland, staid music industry. Resurrecting the spirit of political activism in music that died out in the seventies, artists have come out of the woodwork to voice their opposition to the policies of the Bush administration. On issues ranging from the PATRIOT Act to the Iraq war to abortion to the environment to civil rights, musicians have ceased standing idly by while their country collapses around them.

The culmination of this resurgence in political action is the formation of the Vote for Change tour, organized and sponsored by upstart PAC MoveOn.org. Hitting the road for a week at the beginning of October and landing in several key swing states (Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Carolina) for the November election, Vote for Change aims to convince its attendees to do exactly that: vote for a change in the White House. Its lineup is truly staggering, with superstar artists pairing up to headline arena shows all over the country: Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band with R.E.M., Dave Matthews Band with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Pearl Jam with Death Cab for Cutie, James Taylor with the Dixie Chicks, Jackson Browne with Bonnie Raitt, and John Mellencamp with Babyface Edmonds. Additional artists participating in the tour include Neil Young, Jurassic 5, My Morning Jacket, Keb Mo’, John Fogerty, and Bright Eyes.

Bush: “Make Sure I’m Out Screwing Up” (Wesley Willis), “Where You Lead I Will Follow” (Carole King), “I Shit My Pants”

(The Fugs)

The participants in Vote for Change represent a fairly accurate cross-section of the electorate tour organizers whose hope is to oust Bush in November, from lifelong activists (Pearl Jam, R.E.M.) and outspoken Bush critics (Dixie Chicks), to disaffected youth (Death Cab for Cutie) and those normally known for [See pg. 10]

A League Of Its Own

Volunteers are always welcome at the League of Pissed-Off Voters. COURTNEY HULL represents for the newest political animal on Emory’s campus.

Yo, so has anyone else noticed pop culture’s sudden obsession with politics? Well, I have. I feel like I can’t do anything without seeing P. Diddy with his “VOTE or DIE” t-shirts, or Christina Aguilera on Oprah telling kids to vote—and wait—we can’t forget about Bruce Springsteen and his “Vote for Change” tour. Yep, politics is pretty much everywhere right now, even in pop culture (the one place we thought was safe), but to tell you the truth, I am pretty psyched about it.

But that’s cause I’m what you would call “a voter organizer.” I work with this kick-ass organization, The League of Pissed-Off Voters. Ever heard of a graffiti writer known as Upski?…Yeah, I thought so. Well, he’s the one behind it all. He’s one of the dopest people I know, and he’s making it happen. This little League of ours, it ain’t so little anymore (We got chapters all around the country building voting blocs for change). Sorry, Cameron Diaz, but we were way ahead of your ass in knowing that in order to even attempt to move towards social justice, we have to get young folks, all young folks, from hip-hoppers to punk kids, and everyone in between, out to vote. And we’ve got to vote together.

We’ve all realized that just bitching about political disempowerment in this country has not effected change. So that’s why we’ve got the League. From putting on the National Political Hip-Hop Conference to teaming up with numerous artists and organizations throughout the country, we are building a nation-wide voter bloc to fight institutional racism, the destruction of the earth, warmongering, exploitation, and corruption—and we’re doing it in unison. So believe it or not, we’re gonna swing this election.

So what are you waiting for, Drew Barrymore to put out another documentary on why young people haven’t gotten their asses to the polls? Didn’t think so. So check us out at indyvoter.org.

Don’t know who you’re voting for? Check out our voter guide. Cause yep, it is on.

[From pg. 9] impartiality but who can simply take no more (Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews Band). Some have risked alienating large sections of their fan-bases who strongly support Bush, but have deemed the opportunity to potentially enact real change in this country too powerful to resist. Says Matthews, “This country represents a dream of what people of widely varying backgrounds can create together. This election is not only about what this country is now. It’s also about what it can be. I’m an American, and it’s my responsibility to say what I think. With what I see in the world today, I cannot justify not standing up and saying, ‘I feel with every bone in my body that this country is going in the wrong direction.’”

Contact chull@emory.edu for further information on the League.

All proceeds from the Vote for Change tour will benefit MoveOn.org and its subsidiary America Coming Together, which plans to register and mobilize millions of voters throughout the United States prior to the election.