It's official! The sound of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign is…"You and I" by Celine Dion. WHAT? Celine Dion? I thought she died on the Titanic? And I have never even heard of this song before? I could understand "A New Day Has Come" or maybe "The Power of the Dream," but still…it's Celine Dion.

Even if you know the words to some of her most famous songs (guilty), who could forget Ana Gasteyer's hilarious impression of the grandstanding singer on Saturday Night Live? "I am the BEST singer in the WOOOoorld!" Not sure you'd want tha image repping your campaign.

First off, as my editor Marty Karlon so eloquently put it, "SHE'S CANADIAN!" Yeah Clinton, what gives? I mean, I thank Canada everyday for Jim Carrey, Mike Myers and snotty fries (poutine), but how about some love for the homegrown talent? An American Idol perhaps? Picking the WOMAN with a POWERFUL voice, I understand, but isn't the AMERICAN aspect also important when running for the president of AMERICA? Just thoughts. Then again, Dion is a bilingual immigrant and Hill's staff sure knows those are both big campaign buzz words.

So a thumbs down to the song choice. Sorry, Celine. 

However, the Democrats are not alone in the embarassment that is pop politics. Just ask Karl Rove to break it down for you on the 1's & 2's. And I've seen enough embarassing clips of W to last me until one of his daughters tries to run for office.

But while browsing the New Hampshire Presidential Watch blog in the wake of the Dion announcement, I saw that Republican candidate, Mike Huckabee, is also trying to grab the artsy vote by announcing tour dates for his band, "Capitol Offense."  

Once again, I can't really take a politician seriously when they are being anything other than…a politician, but maybe that's just me. Despite all the laughter I stifled hearing "Born To Be Wild" played by a Baptist minister and his band of Arkansians, Huckabee is an interesting case. Before the presidential aspirations, he lost over 100 lbs, ran a marathon, and played the bass (akin in coolness to the sax, an instrument made re-famous by a more rythmically inclined Clinton). Huckabee also had the sweetest one-line zinger during the most recent debate, "We've had a Congress that's spent money like John Edwards at a beauty shop." OUCH.

Even if I did find some honest humor in Huckabee's laid-back portrayal of himself, instead of cringing embarassment, I still think politicians should tone down the rock 'n roll angle of their campaigns & probably just stay out of pop culture altogether.

I mean, if I wanted to see a rockstar, I'd go to a concert…but probably not a Celine Dion concert.