Boogate: Was Edwards Cheered or Jeered?

There are three major rules in show business. (1) Don't walk on-stage in the middle of a Who concert, (2) don't walk on-stage in the middle of a Jerry Lewis telethon and (3) don't walk on-stage in the middle of a John Cougar Mellencamp song... even if he asks you to.

On Friday night in Des Moines, while performing an acoustic rendition of "Small Town," rocker (and painter) John Mellencamp paused and asked his friend John Edwards to come on-stage for a quick howdy. Edwards came out in faded jeans, a white Oxford and a blazer. And imagine how sorry he was when he realized he'd forgotten his trucker cap.

The weekend spin was unforgiving, with a perplexing mix of uncertainty: Political Radar flat-out says he was jeered, American Thinker says "after a few cheers, boos overtake the hall," while MSNBC "changed its headline" after watching the video of the song (see below), clarifying that "there were some boos, audible to our reporter and others, [though] there were cheers as well." Meanwhile, other blogs are declaring that there were no boos at all.

So, what happened exactly? It's not for us here at Political Machine to say. We'd rather let it simmer a little. And, to be honest, we can't watch this video anymore. We all grew up in small towns and pretty much hated it.

WARNING: The following video contains brazen southern affability:




B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.