In the midst of the 1992 presidential campaign, a young and relatively inexperienced presidential hopeful appeared with a saxophone and sunglasses on The Arsenio Hall Show, playing the melody to "Heartbreak Hotel" and winning over young and minority voters in the process.
Now, 16 years later, saxophonist and former President Bill Clinton is fighting an uphill political battle for the candidacy of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., against another candidate deemed young and inexperienced -- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., whose supporters are using music in a seemingly new and innovative way in the political field.
With the unveiling of the "Yes We Can" music video in January, Black Eyed Peas front man Will.i.am and director Jesse Dylan have used their expertise and star connections to bring politics to the eyes and ears of the YouTube generation.
The black-and-white video, which features celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Common, Kate Walsh and Nicole Scherzinger, is garnering thousands of hits per day -- with more than 13 million hits since it debuted, according to telegraph.co.uk -- and Obama is steadily rising in votes, campaign donations and attention across the country.
"He is already a huge force in Penn State," Haley Lentz (freshman-political science) said. "The celebrities will definitely persuade college-age students."
The video plays a speech Obama gave after conceding the New Hampshire primary in January and features the musicians and celebrities echoing and singing along with the candidate's often lofty and poetic style of speaking.
Musical accompaniment is realtively minimalist, limited to acoustic guitar and a bit of Herbie Hancock piano.
"I think it does a great job," Sanket Amin (graduate-mechanical engineering), an avid Obama supporter, said. "It hits the younger generation perfectly, with people we watch in the media, but it also has him speaking at the same time."
While the video has garnered hits and been praised among Obama's faithful, some who follow politics note that hype generated by support from big-name musicians doesn't always translate to political victories for the candidates, as evidenced by liberal political action committee moveon.org's 2004 "Vote For Change" tour in support of then-candidate John Kerry, featuring Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and REM.
"The bottom line with celebrity endorsements is that they mean very little," Dan Tarvin (sophomore-journalism), a McCain supporter, said. "Just look at John Kerry, who had all the major celebrities endorsing him in 2004."
But Samantha Miller (sophomore-political science), media director for Penn State Democrats, said Obama's campaign is different.
"In the past, the attempts to attract young voters have been more desperate," she said. "But he already has the energy and a very progressive young movement following him, which will continue to keep the energy high among voters in the campaign -- young and not so young."
What worried several Obama supporters, including Miller and Lentz, was the potential for a progressive young movement to simply benefit from a celebrity bandwagon and ignore political dialogue, which is mostly absent from the four-and-a-half minute video.
"A part of me wishes that the video got into the issues a bit more," Lentz said. "I hope that whoever watches it educates themselves."
Tarvin agrees, adding that criticism of Obama concerning his alleged lack of substance is "warranted."
"The video is OK for Obama in the sense that he can keep inspiring people, but his campaign has definitely not had enough substance," he said.
Nancy Love, an associate professor of political science who has studied music's relation to politics, said whether the video delves into the real issues is not necessarily key.
"Music is stored in the body, and associations with the song stick with you," Love said. "If you can get politicians and their message to stick with the music, it will replay the message along with the music."
Obama's message is one that inspires, Miller said, which she thinks the video does perfectly.
"The video's goal is to inspire and draw in voters, because its theme is 'Yes we can,' " she said. "From there, it inspires people to go view the issues."
