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Hall and Oates Fans to Romney: No Can Do

Anti-Mitt Super PAC formed by H&O super fans

By percy thrillington Aug 23, 2012 3:43AM
It's the time of the season when blogs are alive with the sound of musicians telling republicans to stop using their songs. But here's a story of some grass roots political activism being done in the name of rock, not by the rockers themselves—in this case Daryl Hall and John Oates—but by a couple of their fans who are fed up with Mitt Romney, whom they clearly believe is "Out of Touch."


As Stephen Colbert showed earlier this year, just about any joker can make a Super PAC these days, and as if to prove that, a couple of political junkie waiters in Atlanta have launched The Hall and Oates Fans for America Super PAC (PDF) a group dedicated to criticizing Mitt Romney and some sweet, sweet harmonizing.
Officially recognized on August 20, The Hall and Oates Fans for America Super PAC has found itself spread around Twitter today. The Atlantic Wire gave Director and Treasurer William "Billy" Hansmann, 36, a call to get the details. Turns out, Hansmann and his Chairman, Anthony Schuch, (the two work together at Atlanta's Two Urban Licks) are big fans of the Philly soul-inflected '80s hit-makers, but not so much the Republican party: "I find it really unfortunate that Republicans tend to play such hardball and with very little response form the Democratic side," Hansmann said. "Why with the exception of a couple comics out there are people not going after some of these guys?"
The answer? Parody videos, of course. The Hall and Oates Fans for America Super PAC plans to use any funds raised to create anti-Romney-Ryan videos that they intend to release on YouTube in next couple months. "We had a hard time deciding which Hall and Oates song we would choose [for the videos]," Hansmann said with a laugh. "It's like they could see into this election and Romney: 'Out of Touch,' 'I Can't Go For That,' 'Rich Girl,'" he said, rattling off just a few of Hall and Oates' greatest hits.
Hansmann describes himself as a "card-carrying member" of the Libertarian Party, and said he's not so much anti-Romney as he's "anti-current-state-of-the-Republican-Party." He also says that using Hall and Oates was, at first, a way to make fun of "ridiculously ambiguous names" of Super PACs, but it's become an organizing concept for the group. He and his fellow Hall and Oates Fans for America Super PAC members don't expect to get any donations out of this, but if someone wants to donate to help them produce a second video, that'd be fine by them. And, who knows, maybe Hall and Oates will join them, making their dreams come true. "We’re just fans," he said. 
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