A whole lot of alt-rock stars with activist consciences today endorsed Steve Novick's run for Senate in Oregon, to face Gordon Smith in the fall. Michael Stipe of REM, Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana and now Flipper joined Portland based stars like Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini and Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney in their letter of support for Steve. {pdf}:
We wanted to write you a short letter asking you to join us in supporting Steve Novick for the U.S. Senate. We know that we aren't the typical people you hear from about an upcoming election, but Steve is certainly not the typical candidate.
Steve is a principled progressive who will take on the tough challenges we face today.
The upcoming election offers us a real opportunity to turn the page on the failed policies of President Bush and bring progressive change to Washington D.C. Steve Novick could be a real leader for change in the Senate and we hope you'll join us in supporting him this election.
Sincerely,
Colin Meloy (The Decembrists)
Thomas Lauderdale (Pink Martini)
Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam)
Michael Stipe (REM)
Britt Daniel (Spoon)
Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie)
Krist Novoselic (Nirvana & Flipper)
Dave Dederer (Presidents of the United States)
Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney)
Rufus Wainwright
More than offering their support however, some are going beyond. Meloy, of the popular intelli-rock band The Decemberists, is also spearheading Novick's "Register for Steve" program, encouraging Oregonians to come into the Democratic primary in May by registering--or re-registering!--as a Democrat by April 29th. And he'll also be participating in HeadCount, a national nonprofit devoted to registration causes.
And perhaps most excitedly (especially if you're a Pearl Jam fan) there's this:
The Novick campaign announced that supporters will also be able to receive a premium ticket to an upcoming East Coast performance by Pearl Jam along with their contribution to the campaign. The ticket blocks, made available to the campaign by the group, will include sell-out shows in New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C. Additional details on the tickets will be made available soon.
I think there's a reason these intelligent, creative and highly individual people are drawn to Steve. Like them, he believes you don't have to accept a raw deal or a safe mindset as "the way it's always been done" in order to get along, that sometimes principles matter more than a buck, and that people in the end are more important that giant corporations, and our laws and policies should reflect that.
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