A John Mellencamp-for-Senate grassroots effort appears to be gaining steam.
The idea first turned up in the Nation. It got another boost after a former aide to Sen. Birch Bayh seconded the proposal. Even Roger Ebert has chimed in.
Bayh’s son, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who was expected to win re-election in a slam-dunk this fall, recently announced he’s throwing in the towel.
After Bayh’s resignation announcement, the Nation’s editor, Katrina vanden Heuvel, suggested Mellencamp as a candidate. On MSNBC Tuesday, Van Heuvel said Mellencamp could be a “populist candidate” as someone “who worked very hard for farmers who faced foreclosures” and “a Heartland son of Indiana.”
And now Brent Budowsky, a former aide to the elder Bayh, is touting Mellencamp as well.
Budowsky, writing for The Hill, calls a Mellencamp candidacy an “inspired idea,” saying that the singer, who has supported projects like Farm Aid, is “unique, one of a kind, a voice for the people who believe America needs a new brand of politics and new kind of leadership in the Senate…. I believe John Mellencamp would electrify the campaign and electrify Democrats who want a fighter for working people, farmers, small businesses and small-town America.”
Chicago film critic Ebert backed a Mellencamp candidacy via Twitter Monday. A Facebook page dedicated to drafting Mellencamp as a candidate had 940 members by mid-Wednesday.
How would you like to have your nails done by tennis champ Serena Williams?
Williams writes on her blog that she’s taking classes to to become a nail technician.
She wrote on her Global Grind blog: “No one likes getting their nails done more than I do . . . I go every four days to get a manicure and every seven days for a pedicure. So, I had a brilliant idea to get certified to be a nail tech.”
Williams, winner of 12 grand-slam singles titles, is taking classes at the Palm Beach Nail School to become a certified nail technician and will have to pay $55 every two years to renew her license — an ace for someone who’s made more than $30 million, the New York Post reports.
Serena added, “Don’t be surprised if you hear about a part-time job I’ve picked up at a local nail salon.”
ABC says Octomom Nadya Suleman will make her first appearance as a guest on “The View” next week.
Suleman and her children have been a frequent topic of debate on the weekday talk show, co-hosted by Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd. She will appear Wednesday on the show, which airs at 11 a.m. Eastern time.
Suleman gained international attention last year for giving birth to octuplets, the second full set of octuplets born alive in the United States. She also has six other children. She conceived all her children by in vitro fertilization and she has been criticized for growing this huge family as a single mother on public assistance.
The octuplets celebrated their first birthday in January.
Actor and Web-savvy activist Ashton Kutcher says he will “crowd source” questions about the Kremlin’s push to develop a Russian Silicon Valley to his 4.5 million Twitter fans.
The actor is part of a U.S. delegation of technology and social media leaders that arrived in Moscow as part of White House efforts to improve ties with Russia.
Kutcher told reporters in Moscow on Thursday that he will “translate the Russian voice to an American audience” and seek advice on Russia’s efforts to build its own high-tech center.
The Kremlin announced recently it would develop its own Silicon Valley to help modernize Russia’s economy, which is highly dependent on energy exports.
During the weeklong visit, the delegation will urge the Russian government, businessmen and students to utilize social media and innovative technologies to tackle problems like human trafficking and corruption.
The visit is part of an effort strengthen ties between the United States and Russia after years of strained relations.
— The Associated Press also contributed to this report
lsmith@denverpost.com
