'Independence Day' songwriter jabs McCain-Palin campaign's use of song

Why is it that Republican candidates keep stepping in it when they try to use pop music as a rallying cry?

Ronald Reagan incited an uproar when he attempted to get his reelection campaign rocking in 1984 to the tune of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” His campaign staff apparently only ever listened to that one line in the song, not the rest protesting the shabby treatment Vietnam War veterans had received after coming home.

Flash forward to 2008 when Jackson Browne sued Sen. John McCain’s campaign for unauthorized use of his 1978 hit “Running on Empty" to take a swipe in a TV ad at rival Sen. Barack Obama’s run for the presidency.

Now McCain and running mate Sarah Palin have sounded echoes of the Reagan gaffe with the use of the 1994 Martina McBride country hit “Independence Day”...

to bring Palin on stage at a rally after her debate Thursday with Sen. Joe Biden.

Once again, nice flag-waving title, and the chorus generally sounds pretty upbeat:

Let freedom ring
Let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know that today is the day of a reckoning
Let the weak be strong
Let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away
let the guilty pay
It's Independence Day

That penultimate line is the giveaway. The song, written by Nashville veteran Gretchen Peters, tells the story of the mother of an 8-year-old daughter who escapes an abusive husband by torching their house, with him still inside.

"The fact that the McCain/Palin campaign is using a song about an abused woman as a rallying cry for their vice presidential candidate, a woman who would ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest, is beyond irony," Peters said. "They are co-opting the song, completely overlooking the context and message, and using it to promote a candidate who would set women's rights back decades.”

Of course, any candidate can use any song he or she wants at a political rally, as long as the required public-performance royalties are paid. (Songs used in TV commercials are another matter, and require the artist’s consent.)

The song had already been adopted as the theme song for “The Sean Hannity Show,” the nationally syndicated talk program hosted by the conservative political commentator. As a result, Peters increased her donations to organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union; Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and Moveon.org.

Now Peters says she’ll be donating her songwriting royalties from the song to Planned Parenthood — in Palin’s name. “I hope with the additional income provided by the McCain/Palin campaign, Planned Parenthood will be able to help many more women in need," Peters said.

--Randy Lewis

Photo by Chris O'Meara / Associated Press