Rock star does fundraiser for Hillary Clinton

I absolutely love piano rocker Ben Folds, having seen him a couple years ago in Oregon on his solo tour. But he appears to have lost all good judgment, agreeing to play a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s re-election campaign. The wisdom of boycotting artists with loudly-expressed political views you dislike aside, it’s just a dumb idea for artists to get involved in politics beyond issue advocacy here and there. U2′s Bono has served as a model for how an artist should participate in the political process, pushing an issue without easy partisan fault lines with any politician who will listen, patiently and with plenty of background research. Somehow I doubt the court jester of rock and roll has put the same thought into this shallow event, which is bound to alienate some fans for no good reason. That was one of the big appeals of Ben Folds for me – he seemed pretty laid back, not ideologically uptight, with fun and poignant songs about people, not causes. His fundraising performance won’t sway me in any direction as far as buying his music, but I’ve definitely lost respect for him.