I’d rather Dolly run, myself

Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 by Rex Hammock

I’d rather Dolly run, myself: Bill Clinton thinks Tim McGraw would be a good governor of Tennessee. After thinking about it for 10 seconds, I’ve decided I’d vote for him. Or, to be more precise, I’d vote for her for first lady.

Special bonus county music-politician trivia related to this news item:

  • Tim McGraw is on the Curb Records label whose founder and chairman, Mike Curb, is a former Lt. Gov. (and acting governor) of California. He now lives in Nashville and is a generous benefactor of many educational and arts institutions and other community causes.

  • Country Music Hall of Fame Member Jimmie Davis (“You Are My Sunshine”) was governor of Louisiana (McGraw’s home state) for two terms and, like McGraw, was a successful songwriter and dabbled in movies (he even played himself in a movie based on his life).

  • Country Music Hall of Fame Member Roy Acuff ran unsuccessfully for governor of Tennessee as a Republican in 1948.

  • Country Music Hall of Fame Member and singing-cowboy movie-star Tex Ritter ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Tennessee in 1970.

  • Wilbert Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel was a Western Swing Band leader in the 1930s (Bob Wills got his start in one of “Pappy’s” bands) and was elected to two-terms as Texas governor and was the only person to beat Lyndon Johnson for elected office (the U.S. Senate in 1941). The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? featured a character named “Pappy O’Daniel.”

    • Update: Thanks to Professor Bob Stepno for letting me know (see comments) that another musical politician, Robert Love (Fiddling Bob) Taylor,  was a three-time governor of Tennessee in the 1880s and 90s and was also a U.S. Senator and Congressman. Bob also points to an article that contains the best obituary paragraphs I’ve ever read:

    “All his years in Congress made him none the less a mountaineer.  He loved fried chicken better than a hound loves possum scraps.  He drank his whiskey straight and he raised his hat to every woman he met.  He could play the fiddle as no one else in the mountains, could ride a horse bareback and follow the hounds until the horn blew for breakfast the next day.”

    Update II: Sure, why not? Another suggestion (from Blair) for the list: Kinky Friedman is running for governor of Texas.

    Technorati Tags: , ,

    Related posts:

    1. Our hometown friends, the CMA
    2. Back when obituaries were obituaries
    3. From Sunday’s NY Times
    4. Nashville responds

    About Rex Hammock

    Founder/ceo of Hammock Inc., the customer media and content company based in Nashville, Tenn. Creator of and head-helper at SmallBusiness.com.
    This entry was posted in All other, blogging and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.
    • Hudge

      Fred Thompson played himself playing a U.S. Senator. He’s been floated occasionally as gubernatorial timber, as well.
      Personally, I’d like to see McGraw and Toby Keith run against each other. Talk about voter turnout.

    • Hudge

      If Jamie Denton ran, we could have our choice of First Ladies http://abc.go.com/primetime/desperate/gallery/211.html?photo=1

    • Bob Stepno

      Here’s one more musical Tennessee politician:
      “‘Unable to bear the armor of a Saul, I went forth to do battle armed
      with a fiddle, a pair of saddlebags, a plug horse and the eternal truth,’ Gov. Robert
      Taylor of Tennessee said, campaigning and competing at fiddle contests almost a century ago….”
      I think I found that quote from “Our Bob” Taylor in a book titled Tennessee Strings, about 27 years ago, and quoted it in a piece of my own:
      http://www.stepno.com/clips/fiddlefest79.htm

    • Bob Stepno

      P.S. Got curious: In fact, this obit calls him “Fiddling Bob” –
      http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Emobarry/data/taylor1.htm

      “When he was first elected to Congress, he accomplished the task by speaking in the daytime and fiddling at Tennessee mountaineer dances at night. His swing around the country was on a spotted pony… He could play the fiddle as no one else in the mountains… And when he wasn’t fiddling at the dances he was cutting the pigeon wing.”

    • Blair Stilwell

      The Texas rexblog readers might be familiar with a musician gubernatorial candidate named Kinky Friedman.

    • Vol Abroad

      Run Dolly run.

    • Hudge

      Well, if we are branching out of the Volunteer State, there was some Hollywood actor http://www.paulsen.com/ who ran for president a while back – imagine that, an actor getting involved in politics would be pilloried today because how can being an actor qualify you for political office.

    • Cole

      Believe it or not, I’m voting for Kinky for governor. I’ve had enough of Perry not doing anything.