Vice presidential candidates are chosen for a lot of reasons: their ability to help win a swing state, balancing the ticket on a racial/demographic/regional basis and their past service to the country. But musical taste? Not really. Of all the things potential presidents vet, Spotify playlists and vinyl collections are probably right below “favorite dish” on the ranking of key factors.
But we’re music people, and we care about what our candidates listen to, especially since we found out that potential Democratic vice president Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia once said the Replacements’ Let it Be was one of his favorite albums of all time. Not bad. That got us thinking about what other new millennium VPs were into…
Prophets of Rage Bring the Noise (Close) to Donald Trump and the RNC
2000
Democrat — Joe Lieberman
According to the Washington Post, the long-running Sen. from Connecticut has named Frank Sinatra as his favorite artist and Sueño by opera star Andrea Bocelli as his No. 1 album. His top concert? Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder review.
Republican — Dick Cheney
ABC News reported in 2005 that Cheney used one of the only working power outlets on Air Force Two to recharge his iPod on a trip back from the Middle East. What was on said iPod? Apparently the one-time Secretary of Defense’s tastes range from “country to classical” and included a lot of “music from the 1940s and 1950s.”
Rolling Stones Say Trump Used ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ Without Permission at RNC
2004
Democrat — John Edwards
The former Sen. from North Carolina gives Kaine a run for his money in the (relative) hipness category, naming Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp as his faves (with the Boss’ The River his top album) and the Rolling Stones as his best concert.
Republican — Dick Cheney
Shocker, Cheney is a huge fan of the Man in Black, Johnny Cash.
Kid Rock’s RNC Concert: Rocker Sidesteps the Soapbox to Show His Country Pride
2008
Democrat — Joe Biden
Our current VP loves to rock. And when he rocks it’s to Ray Charles, Springsteen and Tina Turner, sweating it out to the Boss’ Born to Run and taking long road trips with Turner’s “The Best” and chilling to Ray LaMontagne’s “You Are the Best Thing.”
Republican — Sarah Palin
The one-time Alaska Gov. goes all-in on country, with an avowed love of Kid Rock (“Picture,” “All Summer Long), Toby Keith (“Beer for my Horses,” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”), Blake Shelton (“Boys ‘Round Here”), Big & Rich (“Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”), plus a few surprises: Pink’s “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” and Lady Gaga’s “You & I”.
2012
Democrat — Joe Biden
If he could join a band, it would totally be Irish superstars the Chieftains, because, duh, he thinks of his mom when he hears “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.”
Republican — Paul Ryan
The handsome Speaker of the House is known for being pumped up, so it’s no surprise he loves Creed’s “Higher” and AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way to the Top,” with Led Zeppelin coming in as his favorite band and UW-Madison fourth quarter pump-up song “Jump Around” by House of Pain on his list of crunk tunes. Also, totally has some Hannah Montana on his iPod, FYI.
2016
Democrat — Tim Kaine
?We already know he’s got mad ‘Mats love, but also crushes on Dylan’s “Buckets of Rain” (“I been meek/ And hard like an oak/ I seen pretty people disappear like smoke/ Friends will arrive, friends will disappear”) and is a self-proclaimed “harmonica enthusiast.”
Republican — Mike Pence
According to his Facebook page, Trump’s chosen No. 2 is way into “contemporary Christian, country, classical and anything by Earth Wind and Fire.” (Even if they’re totally not into him.)