A Theme Song for Clinton: ‘I’m a Believer’ vs. ‘Cold as Ice’

By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN
Published: June 4, 2007 The New York Times



When Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton asked YouTube viewers to vote on a theme song for her presidential campaign, she certainly got the attention she wanted — and a whole lot of jokes at her expense.

While her campaign provided a list of upbeat songs to choose from — like “I’m a Believer” and “Beautiful Day” — her detractors suggested alternatives like “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” and “Cold as Ice.”

On May 16, the campaign uploaded a video in which Mrs. Clinton says, in a mock serious tone, “I want to know what you’re thinking on one of the most important questions of this campaign,” then directs viewers to hillaryclinton.com to vote on one of her staff’s nine song choices (or suggest others). The clip concludes with some mild self-deprecation, with brief footage of Mrs. Clinton vocally mangling the national anthem.

On May 24, she posted another video to YouTube, announcing that voters had narrowed the original list to five (including “Rock This Country!” by Shania Twain and “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall), and that five of the top write-in suggestions also were now contenders (including “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” by The Police and “You and I” by Celine Dion).

The campaign is expected to close the second round of voting and announce the winning song this week.

“The numbers are insane,” Peter Daou, the Clinton campaign Internet director, said of the response. Each video has been viewed on either YouTube or the campaign site more than 900,000 times, and more than 100,000 votes were cast in the first round, he said. Tech President, a blog about candidates’ Internet exposure, credited Mrs. Clinton’s campaign song videos with “helping her dethrone Senator Barack Obama as the candidate with the most YouTube buzz.” More...