Grateful Dead Takes Up Political Cause
May 25th - 9:01am
Mark Segraves, WTOP Radio

WASHINGTON - For more than four decades the Grateful Dead has been playing music associated with the counter culture. Now the band is raising money for Sen. Patrick Leahy's Green Mountain Political Action Committee.

Leahy, D-Vt., says the Grateful Dead and politics aren't such an odd couple.

"You'd be amazed at the number of Deadheads there are in Washington," Leahy tells WTOP. "It's gotten so there's not enough fun in politics these days, and this is a way we can do something everybody can enjoy."

So what does the senator, who was first elected in 1974, have in common with the Dead?

"Their sense that we have one planet and we're not taking very good care of it and we've got to do a better job. That resonates with me and it certainly resonates in Vermont," Leahy says.

The Dead's Bobby Weir sat down and chatted with WTOP about the need for people to support good politicians and to participate in the government.

"This is very critical," Weir says. "We're losing our democracy. If you can't see that, you're not looking very hard."

The guitarist says playing politics is in keeping with the band's music.

"The message tonight is I'm doing my part to try to take back our government before the fascist assholes lock it up. And they're not going let it go. They're going to lock it up and they're going to keep it.

"Pat Leahy is a wonderful human being as well as a good politician, not an evil politician like some of those guys. It's my job as a citizen to do what I can to support these people."

Weir, who's been coming to Capitol Hill for years, says his fans could have a great impact if they got involved.

"If every deadhead in the state of Florida had gotten off his ass and voted in the 2000 election this would be a very different world today," he says.

But don't look for Weir, a member of the Dead since 1965, to run for office.

"I'm not going to run for office then I wouldn't be able to play. Being to play for people is something that I think is important."

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