Here’s an idea for those Bush-bashing Dixie Chicks, whose summer ticket sales have taken a licking in markets upset with their ranting. Stop whining about your country fans and do what you did in 2004: Give in to your political outrage by following the model of groups like the Dave Matthews Band. Because Dave Matthews isn’t just talking the talk: During his summer concert swing, he is teaming up with other political rockers for the Midterms Matter Tour–a reference to the fall elections–to sign up new voters.
You didn’t know the pop-rock bandleader played the beltway game? Well, that was him with the Dixie Chicks at Bruce Springsteen’s 2004 concerts for Sen. John Kerry. And he’s just as passionate today. “Both parties,” he tells us, “are doing a pretty appalling job.” His No. 1 issue: the environment. “Is terrorism and immigration really all there is?” he asks. “Global warming is obviously much more important.” The more he talks, the hotter he gets. “It takes drowning polar bears to get our government to get their heads out of their asses and start to even maybe, on occasion, talk about global warming.”
His is an educated, though liberal, view fed by his favorite media: The Washington Post and The New York Times. And, oh, the Nation. “I guess this throws me into the category of some raving lunatic lefty,” he says of his favorite mag, “but it seems kind of moderate to me.” (From Paul Bedard, US News and World Report, June 26, 2006.)
