Wisconsin Legislative Republicans Use Elvis Presley As Reference Point

How much more can a beleaguered Wisconsin Democrat take?

I understand that politics and elections run in cycles and there are times when one runs at the top of the hill and other times one winds up dwelling in the valley.  While there were many spirited mid-term races, and Election Day was fun to watch unfold, it is also fair to say that the results stung for many in this state.

As if designed to rub salt in that wound the Wisconsin State Journal reported Elvis Presley was being referenced by Wisconsin Speaker Robin Vos in relation to the GOP majority.

Vos, who ran unopposed for the position, opened a jubilant caucus session noting that Republicans haven’t had this large of a majority since Elvis Presley bought Graceland and the Chevy Bel-Air was the most popular American car.

As an Elvis fan–and a liberal Democrat–I am just shaking my head.  Was Vos all out of Patti Page reference points?

First, it should be noted the conservative and buttoned-down crowd that Vos would have been a part of had he lived in the 50’s would not have been cheering Elvis Presley.   Instead I am sure Vos as an adult would have been one of those deriding what so many teens found exciting about the music–that being the beat, the beat, the beat.  And lets us not even talk about the swiveling and sexually suggestive body language that Presley showcased at each concert.

It should also be noted that Elvis Presley’s family after moving to Memphis had to resort to public housing as a way to survive.   This family would not have been a natural constituency for Vos of the 50’s anymore than that demographic is his political concern today.

Elvis steered clear of politics other than his famed visit to the Oval Office to meet President Nixon.  I think if Elvis knew he was referenced by the GOP he would refer us to a lyric from a song released in the 1950’s, when he was on the Sun label, so to deal with these heady days of Republican domination in Madison.

Well, you may go to college,
You may go to school.
You may have a pink cadillac,
But don’t you be nobody’s fool.