The Democrats may be taking a risk by making Howard Dean the head of the party, but their options were limited. The only sure-fire choice was, sadly, unavailable: the late Ray Charles.
What else could anyone conclude after watching the Grammy awards Sunday night? Three all-star tributes, eight posthumous Grammys to go with the 12 he won in life, and tears and standing ovations without end: As measured by the music industry, with its hair-trigger sensitivity to the marketplace, the nation's affection for Charles didn't just transcend the red vs. blue divide -- it blew the whole concept to smithereens.
(2003 Photo Jeff Christensen -- Reuters)
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He was an artist, of course, not a politician, but art and politics are always commingled to some extent. It was hard to pin Ray Charles down on either front. He was a self-described Democrat who played and sang for Ronald Reagan. He was a friend of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. whose commitment to the civil rights movement was total and who didn't stand in the front ranks only because, he once joked, he wouldn't know when to duck. Later he was slammed for playing a concert in apartheid-era South Africa. No singing and playing was ever bluesier or more soulful, and yet he was one of the greatest interpreters of country music we have seen.
The gift that Charles had that seems most relevant to the Democrats' current troubles was the ability to speak to people who were unlike him. He was a black man, disabled, proud, purely a product of the African American experience, yet jukeboxes in bars with sawdust on the floor feature his version of "I Can't Stop Loving You," and playing it brings cowgirls and cowboys to tears.
His "America the Beautiful," as was pointed out by obituary writers at his death, was the definition of inclusiveness. An inner-city kid in baggy jeans could stand next to a silver-haired matron from Idaho and both could feel like they belonged to that song, and it belonged to them, when Ray Charles sang it. He filled a simple song with promise.
On some level, he must have understood what the Democratic Party is finding so hard to grasp: that it is possible, without abandoning one's soul, to reach those who define themselves as being on the other side. Whether to energize the blue base with Dean or reach out to the red states with a centrist was the wrong question for the party to ask. The necessary question was how to do both.
Ray Charles must have understood that the whole red-blue thing is a crock. The music industry knows that: Hip-hop, a black art-form and culture born in the cities, now dominates the commerce of music, and most of it is sold in the suburbs. red and blue evidently can coexist under the same split-level roof, even inside the same head.
Other political lessons from the Grammys? There were plenty:
Hispanic America has joined the mainstream. Los Lonely Boys, a trio of Chicano brothers, performed in the show's opening and won for best pop performance by a group. And in terms of sheer Us-magazine star power, the high point may have been a duet by Jennifer Lopez and her new hubby, Latin superstar Marc Anthony. (Although it would have been a higher point if Lopez had come closer to hitting those notes she was aiming for.)
Racial identity is more fluid than it used to be. Alicia Keys, a black woman, gave the most soulful performance this side of Aretha Franklin, then joined Jamie Foxx, the Oscar-nominated star of "Ray," in one of the Charles tributes, and then went out into the audience to sit next to her mother, who is white.
Sexual identity is trumped by humanity and talent. Melissa Etheridge, her head shaved because she faces chemotherapy for breast cancer, brought the crowd to its feet with a Janis Joplin tribute, "Piece of My Heart." Etheridge is a lesbian, but I'll bet not even Alan Keyes reached to change the channel.
Faith is a universal gift. Rapper Kanye West performed his controversial mega-hit, "Jesus Walks," and in the process ended the controversy. Hip-hop can indeed be used as a sword in the service of religious belief, and many hip-hoppers, despite the bling and the naughty words, do believe.
It's complicated, this America, and it's not so neatly divided into two primary-color camps, as the analysts would have us believe. The way to overcome artificial divisions is to touch people on a human level and welcome them, not push them away. That's what Ray Charles -- "the Genius" -- understood, and what I hope the Democrats can somehow learn.
Brother Ray is gone now. But Jamie Foxx might be available.
