Clinton Picks Campaign Theme Song _ From Canada

Jun 19, 06:10 PM

Current Headlines: WASHINGTON _ Hillary Clinton's version of "American Idol" has come to a close, with a twist inspired by "The Sopranos."

For weeks, she has been urging Americans to help her pick a campaign theme song. More than 225,000 people responded by offering their ideas on her campaign Web site. She finally named her choice Tuesday: "You and I," by Canadian singer Celine Dion.

To milk a little more drama from the announcement, Clinton posted a video spoof of the final "Sopranos" episode, with her husband, Bill, cast as Tony Soprano.

Sitting in a diner that mirrored the final scene in the popular television series about a mob family, the Clintons flip through a tabletop jukebox while a menacing character lurks at a nearby counter.

"So what's the winning song?" the former president asks. "My money's on Smash Mouth. Everybody in America wants to know how it's going to end."

"Ready?" Hillary Clinton teases.

Then the screen goes black.

The inconclusive real "Sopranos" episode infuriated many loyal viewers, but Clinton sought to avoid that problem by including a link to her musical choice. That ended the suspense, but the song selection drew mixed reviews.

Some critics questioned whether it was appropriate for a presidential candidate to look to Canada for musical inspiration. Clinton tapped Dion for her theme song, which was once used in an Air Canada ad campaign, on the very day that she expressed concerns about losing jobs to Canada.

In a speech to union workers Tuesday morning, Clinton said the United States increasingly was losing jobs to its northern neighbor. As an example, she cited an auto plant in Detroit that's facing closure.

"Some of the work is going to Mexico, but some of the high-value work is going to Canada because of lower health-care costs," she told members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Others objected to the song itself.

"Who voted for this?" Eric Danton, a rock critic for the Hartford Courant, asked on his blog. He called Clinton's selection "a terrible song."

Political junkies looked for the electoral implications of the announcement.

"This is not a good sign for us," conservative commentator Mary Katherine Ham concluded on Townhall.com. "Culturally aware, hip, clever, funny, with a subtle reminder that the Clintons are as much a part of American cultural lore as the Sopranos. Luckily, she may have wiped out any good she did by then picking a Celine Dion song as her campaign song."

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The video and the song are available at Clinton's campaign Web site,

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/

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