Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy encouraged liberals to listen to Oliver Anthony’s new song, “Rich Men North of Richmond” and to view it as an “opportunity to engage.”
Murphy argued in a Substack post that “instead of ridiculing Anthony’s song,” people on the left should use the song as an “opportunity” to reach Anthony’s fans and new voters and have an open conversation about whether the politics of the Republican or Democratic Party are the “best antidote” to fixing the problems he sings about.
“Why not instead view the reaction to his song as an opportunity to engage with his followers on the song’s critique of modern life and force a real conversation about whether it is the politics of the right or the left that are the best antidote to the social ills that Anthony laments (and through his own scapegoating, exposes)?” Murphy wrote in his Friday post.
“Why not instead of ridiculing Anthony’s song, view it as an opportunity to engage with his followers [in] a real conversation about whether it is the politics of the right or the left that are the best antidote to the social ills that Anthony laments?”https://t.co/kYws9GADHC
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) August 26, 2023
Murphy continues to suggest the left should view people’s “reaction to his song as a chance” not to make the divide between the left and right deeper, but to engage new voters in order to grow their “coalition.” (Dem Sen. Chris Murphy Says ‘We Cannot Avoid’ The Biological ‘Differences’ Between Men And Women)
Anthony’s song, which is a lament about how the working class seems to be kicked around by “Rich Men North of Richmond” talks about how “living in the new world,” being “taxed to no end,” how the “dollar ain’t sh*t” and how people work long “overtime hours” for what “bulls**t pay.”
Murphy adds that “it is the left, not the right” which supports policies supporting raising the minimum wage, tax breaks and public education.
“The fact is these policies would help the white, conservative working-class men whom Anthony’s song mostly resonates with,” Murphy said. “But they would also help women, people of color, and every person who has been exploited by our current economic order.”
Anthony criticized Fox News for playing his song at the Republican primary debate, noting that the song was written “about those people” and that it frustrates him that musicians and politicians try to act like they are “fighting the same struggle” as he is.