Must Listen: A Song for Debra Medina

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Just when it seemed that the great American tradition of catchy campaign tunes had disappeared forever, along comes a sure-to-be-instant YouTube classic, an ode to Republican insurgent Debra Medina set to the tune of “My Maria.”

You will be doing yourself a tragic disservice if you don’t give it a spin here. (And no, when I lament the disappearance of swell campaign tunes, I am not forgetting Will.i.am’s “YES WE CAN.” However, I would very much like to. For a fleeting second, the dreary piety of that tuneless song-vertisement sorely tempted me to punch my ballot for McCain out of spite.)

It’s hard to know what to love the most about “Our Medina”: the camouflage wall that serves as the guitar-strumming singer’s backdrop (one of the patches bearing an uncanny resemblance to the shape of Texas), the lyrics (“Gov’ner lady, you are just what Texans need”), or the whole darn spirit of the thing.

The artist seems to know it’s kind of silly, while at the same time he means every word. I think the Medina campaign would be well-advised to use some of their Moneybomb funds to feature the song in a commercial, in the vein of such unforgettable numbers as “Nixon Now,” “Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy,” and the standard by which all campaign jingles will be forever judged and come up short, the immortal “I Like Ike.

Now I’ve got to go see if that camo wallpaper is available at Home Depot…