The Grammy's are right around the corner. While Congress doesn't have a say in the outcome, it doesn't mean the men and women on Capitol Hill aren't jamming out with the rest of the country in anticipation of the awards. Here's how we think the political playlist breaks down.
Fun.: "Some Nights"
"Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck/Some nights I call it a draw/Sometimes I wish my lips could build a castle/Sometime I wish they'd just fall off."
For former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, 2012 was a year of up and downs, culminating with a decisive loss on election night to President Barack Obama. His bad luck includes his campaign being dominated by his inconsistent platform and idiotic comments from members of his own party. You can't blame him for wishing his own lips would fall off after his poorly timed comments about Benghazi and 47 percent of the electorate, as Romney must have spent some nights wondering why he even bothered running in the first place.
Katy Perry: "Wide Awake"
"How did I read the stars so wrong/I'm wide awake/And now it's clear to me/That everything you see/Ain't always what it seems/I'm wide awake/Yeah, I was dreaming for so long."
In 2008 Barack Obama assumed the presidency on a wave of hope, change, dreams and unicorn dust. While some Americans expected Obama to wave his magic wand to end the recession, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and all problems in the United States, the president and his advisors overestimated how effective his policies would be in healing the economy and assuaging a discontented country. Obama said before the election his biggest mistake was not communicating well enough with the American people, something he has vowed to focus on during his second term. As he learned in his last term, sometimes your first reading of the start ain't always what it seems.
Kelly Clarkson: "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)"
"You didn't think that I'd come back/I'd come back swinging/You try to break me, but you see/What doesn't kill you makes you stronger/Stand a little taller/Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone/What doesn't kill you makes a fighter."
Obama was as vulnerable as a sitting president could be coming into the 2012 election, but despite the best efforts of the Republican Party, he survived to serve another four years. Now with a wave of support behind him and a demoralized GOP in front of him, Obama is taking no prisoners in his stances on the fiscal crisis, immigration reform and gun control. Even when it means going against the far left of his own party. Obama is back for a second term, and he's back as a fighter.
Taylor Swift: "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
"We are never ever ever getting back together/We are never ever ever getting back together/You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me/But we are never ever ever ever getting back together."
Since 2010, congressional Democrats and Republicans have gotten along worse than Taylor Swift and every single person on Earth with a Y chromosome. Between the Tea Party's surge and the abysmal handling of the debt crisis of 2011 and the fiscal cliff of 2012, partisanship has run rampant in Washington, earning Congress a dismal reputation and approval rating. Even though the parties have been able to remain somewhat civil, it's clear that they are never ever getting back together – at least for the next few years.
Maroon 5: "Payphone"
I know it's hard to remember/The people we used to be/It's even harder to picture/That you're not here next to me/You say it's too late to make it/But is it too late to try?/And in our time that you wasted/All of our bridges burned down.
As much as the Democrats and Republicans have sparred, there's been a fair amount of tension within the Republican Party, too. The Tea Party helped bring the GOP back to power in Congress, but a lack of leadership and virulent extremism hindered the party from taking the White House. Tensions erupted at the Republican National Convention this summer when party leadership failed to acknowledge the candidacy of Ron Paul. If the party plans to compete for the Senate in 2014, it's going to have to rebuild some bridges.
LMFAO: "I'm Sexy and I Know It"
"(Ahhhh) Girl look at that body (x3)/I-I-I work out/(Ahhhh) Girl look at that body (x3)/I-I-I work out."
Over the course of the 2012 campaign season much had been made of Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's excerise regime. His passions for P90X and making up marathon times are only exceeded by his love for Ayn Rand and fiscal responsiblity. But whether or not you voted for him and Romney in November, you can't deny that Paul Ryan works out. And for him, it doesn't matter if you think he's sexy or not – he knows he is.
