The presidential contest has saturated popular culture like an O.J.-trial sequel, leading to comment from pundits across the American spectrum, including rock stars. Certain artists are respected, informed and might contribute meaningful arguments to the political debate. But Pete Wentz? The bassist and chief songwriter for punk boy band Fall Out Boy? Say it ain't so.
Wentz's snarky songs about failed hook-ups made him an emo hero — which is fine but doesn't exactly qualify him for opining on politics. Yet there's Wentz in the March 6 issue of Rolling Stone, displaying an Obama '08 T-shirt under his designer sport coat. The Fall Out Boy threw a fundraiser for the presidential hopeful, who also reps Wentz's home state of Illinois, in January.
The publication notes that the 28-year-old decided to get involved after Obama won the primaries in Iowa and South Carolina. "It was at that point where I thought, 'Why would I not put everything that I had behind this?'" Wentz tells Rolling Stone. "Otherwise, come November, I could be cursing myself under my breath and going 'This is what you could have done.'"
The magazine fails to report how much money Wentz raised — did he really put "everything [he] had behind this"? With minimal effort, the limelight-loving Fall Out Boy again got his picture in the famed music mag and managed to come across as being slightly deeper than song titles like "Sugar, We're Goin Down" and "Dance, Dance" suggest. And in keeping with his new role as activist, Wentz earned an MTV.com headline a couple of weeks ago when he announced plans to join 1,000 other young do-gooders and march on Washington, D.C., in an attempt to end the two-decade civil war in Uganda.
Sounds decent, right? But given the way he rose to fame, Wentz's recent foray into politics smacks of one more cheap publicity ploy. The bulk of his celebrity results from an outsized personal life similar to pal Lindsay Lohan's, marked by blogosphere-jolting stunts that read like a sad series of bratty pleas for attention. The list includes a half-assed suicide attempt that he milked for a song, nude pics of his hand-clenched shlong leaked online, chasing celebutards like current girlfriend Ashlee Simpson, telling the press that he's bisexual but isn't "a fan of penises" and claiming Spidey stole his hairdo in Spider-Man 3. For every fan of the eye-liner-covered face of Fall Out Boy, there are plenty others posting comments like: "Did Pete Wentz just compare himself to Spider-Man? That douche fuck."
Does Obama really want to be associated with a "douche fuck?"
Wentz's political actions of late made news, but are still overshadowed by reports of plans to open a punk-themed beauty parlor, an upcoming role in a movie, a rehashing of the bassist's infamous attack with a bottle on an unsuspecting fan and rumors that Wentz and Simpson are headed to the altar. Do fans who relish scandal and petty rock-star exploits care about Wentz's politics? It's doubtful.
Due to Howard Dean and the DNC's brain-dead decision to strip Florida of its delegates, we haven't been exposed first-hand to much of the Obama v. Clinton hoopla that's sweeping the nation. Things will change, though, if a primary revote takes place here. And the general election will likely warrant the same rock star rallying that blanketed the state in '04.
But what did those appearances by rock royalty actually accomplish?
The annual Warped Tour stop in St. Pete that year teemed with fliers explaining to the crowd why they should cast their vote for Kerry. On stage, punk and emo luminaries spewed rhetoric that often amounted to nothing more eloquent than "Fuck Bush!" The kids cheering loudest mostly appeared to be a few years shy of their 18th birthdays.
And then Floridians handed over their highly prized delegates to the incumbent.
The Vote for Change Tour proved equally futile. The much-ballyhooed jaunt included the Dixie Chicks sharing the stage with James Taylor at a sold-out Ruth Eckerd Hall date in Clearwater. It made for a fine night of music, but it's probable that the majority of baby boomers in attendance had pledged their support for Kerry long before dropping big bucks to catch a performance by the Bush-bashing Chicks and that self-described "yellow-dog liberal" Taylor. Plus, the venue holds less than 2,200, which means even if opinions were swayed that evening, the impact was minimal compared to what goes down every Sunday at our state's myriad mega-churches.
By most accounts, Obama has excelled at reaching finicky young voters. The Wentzes of the pop world might be a contributing factor, but there's no conclusive evidence to support such a theory. More likely, Obama's zeal and persona as a Beltway outsider bent on change are what have inspired youths to step away from their gaming consoles and participate in making this country a true democracy. That's a beautiful thing. We don't need a publicity-lusting rock star like Wentz around soaking up the spotlight in order to make it happen.
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2008.
