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Welcome to Michigan Radio’s coverage page for the 2012 Election.If you’re looking for more information to help with your decisions, you can read our collection of stories about key races featured below.You can also check out our Guide to the Ballot Proposals.

Mitt Romney picks Kid Rock's "Born Free" as campaign theme song

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney went back to his Michigan roots to choose a campaign theme song.

“Born Free” by Michigan native Kid Rock has been chosen as Romney's official campaign theme. A Romney staffer confirmed the music selection with Michigan Radio this afternoon.

http://youtu.be/bu3rsha1ZtI

Corwin D. Smidt teaches political science at Michigan State University. He says it was a pretty smart move to pick Kid Rock because he has "more of a Midwest, urban, blue collar connection."

Smidt says that’s a nice balance to Romney’s more executive persona, and he says the more Romney can connect himself to that other image, the one that Kid Rock personifies, the better.

Spin Magazine gives 5 reasons as to why Romney's choice might not be a good idea. Here's an excerpt:

• Kid Rock didn't endorse the last Republican presidential nominee. Republican candidates tend to have a tough time picking out tunes for their public appearances. In the 2008 election cycle, John McCain got assailed by the Foo Fighters, Heart, and John Mellencamp for unauthorized use of their songs. Jackson Browne went so far as to file a lawsuit. Now, Kid Rock's well-documented backing for former President George W. Bush might seem to make him a safe choice. But here's the thing: Kid Rock sat out the last presidential campaign without endorsing anybody. Dude is unpredictable. Who knows what he might say this time to embarrass Romney? • Kid Rock has said nice things about President Obama. There's nothing GOP primary voters hate more than consorting with the enemy, which in this case means not terrorists or Saddam Hussein but Barack Hussein Obama. Long-shot candidate John Huntsman has already been forced to back away from his previous agreement with Democrats that scientists are probably right about global warming. After Obama's victory in 2008, Rock said: "I'm patriotic so I'm just happy the people's voice has been heard. I will support him until I have reason not to." He added that the election was "a great thing for black people … It's good the U.S. has proved it's not as racist as it's sometimes portrayed."

You can read Spin's other three reasons here.

 

Jennifer is a reporter for Michigan Radio's State of Opportunity project, which looks at kids from low-income families and what it takes to get them ahead. She previously covered arts and culture for the station, and was one of the lead reporters on the award-winning education series Rebuilding Detroit Schools. Prior to working at Michigan Radio, Jennifer lived in New York where she was a producer at WFUV, an NPR station in the Bronx.
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