Jon Bon Jovi Rocks The House For Jon Corzine

Bon Jovi has been a real stalwart for progressive causes and for Democratic candidates, so it's no surprise that he jumped right into the fray when New Jersey Republicans nominated an anti-choice/anti-gun control freak to run against Governor Jon Corzine. Thursday, just two nights after the primary, one of New Jersey's most beloved native sons played an acoustic benefit for the campaign. It's great that over $2 million dollars was raised-- especially when every special interest in the country is going to be pouring money into Chris Christie's attempt to turn back the clock on the Garden State-- but something else struck me about the way Jon Bon Jovi approached this endorsement.

It was anything but perfunctory. He knows the governor for years and he's worked with him for years. He knows he's good for his word and that he's a straight shooter. The race pits a progressive fighter against a knee-jerk conservative hack. Watch the clip and listen to how Bon Jovi handles the endorsement; it's rare that a musician goes as far as he did to push a politician. The first song he played at the sold out New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark was the anthem of the state's tourist board, "Who Says You Can't Go Home?" a few weeks earlier Bon Jovi had been in the same hall to be inducted-- along with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Guglielmo Marconi, Phil Rizzuto, Paul Robeson, Carl Sagan, and Walt Whitman-- into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. The photo up top is Gov. Corzine presenting Bon Jovi with his award.