News

This Cowboy's Ready For Hillary

by Alicia Lu

Dec. 4, 2014

Hillary Clinton still hasn't announced her run for presidency in 2016, but some of her supporters are getting an early start on helping her campaign. Sort of. We're talking about the country song "Stand With Hillary," which supports Hillary Clinton for president. In its accompanying music video, an unidentified cowboy croons lines like "Now it's 2016, and this time I'm a thinking: Guys, put your boots on and let's smash this ceiling." I always thought of Hillary as more of a Pat Benatar kind of girl, but this country song/incredibly sincere tribute might be her official theme now, whether she likes it or not.

"Stand With Hillary" was written by media company founder Miguel Orozco, who's also written a song about Obama, while the video was produced by political action committee Stand With Hillary, who clearly loves its name. The song is pretty standard country — twangy, earnest, somewhat sleep-inducing — with lines like "Don't matter if you're living across this great land in a red or blue state, 'cause our American dream is at stake." But the video is where the real magic lies. It's basically what happens when a campaign video, a bad Lifetime TV movie, and a Ford pickup truck commercial come together to have a baby.See for yourself, frame by all-American frame.

No country music video would be complete without cowboy boots. We can safely expect more country motifs to come, right?

Wait, what's this? Spray-paint vandalism? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that might be a first for a country music video.

Okay, how is this not an ad for a pickup truck? This still looks like it was literally torn out of a magazine.

You can say that again, mysterious cowboy man.

Who also happens to be a construction worker (to show that the working class supports Hillary). But let's be serious for a second — what kind of construction worker wears a V-neck to work?

The video is interspersed with wholesome photos of Hillary and her family.

You know what's not so wholesome? This guy's Scott Stapp–inspired haircut.

Suddenly, it's the Fourth of July. And of course there's a token black guy at this random gathering. There is no warning, explanation, or followup to this scene.

Here he's addressing men specifically and giving them a task: Put your boots on and...

Literally smash the glass ceiling! Or vertical sheet of glass, whatever. Details.

Aw, look at his fellow cowboys/musicians.

Cowboy guy reminds us that Hillary is a mother, a daughter, and "through it all" a loving wife. (Wink, wink.)

This photo is everything. The entire music video should have just been this still.

Here, cowboy sings "this great lady — caring, hard-working, once a first lady." C'mon now. That's lazier rhyming than "the cat sat on the mat."

I don't understand the grammar here. Do you mean she fights for country...music?

Since she fights for us, "now it's time for us to stand up with Hillary."

And suddenly it's a Lifetime movie. I don't know how I feel about the cowboy having a life outside of his barn and his guitar playing.

The Lifetime movie plot thickens! Cowboy's pickup truck breaks down (so much for the product placement) and he needs to be rescued.

Surprise! It's his wife!

I think the message here is something along the lines of women can lead, or maybe it's okay for men to get behind a woman. It's so literal that it's confusing.