Trace Adkins Laments Presidential Campaign

Trace Adkins at the Nightly Concert on the Vault Concert Stage LP Field Saturday, June 7 in Downtown Nashville during the 2008 CMA Music Festival.

Oct. 8, 2008 — Nashville hosted the second presidential debate on Tuesday, which led to plenty of local media coverage about John McCain, Barack Obama and Music City preparations for the event. And while Trace Adkins was thrilled that the campaign made its way to Middle Tennessee, he’s also frankly over the whole thing.

"You know, presidential campaigns are getting to be like Christmas," Trace told Dial-Global. "The Christmas shopping season starts the first of October now. And that's kind of the way politics has become. It's gonna eventually end up being a never-ending, non-stop thing. How are people gonna govern when they're campaigning incessantly?"

Trace says that with complete recognition that he’s been quite attached to politics in the last year. His book A Personal Stand: Observations And Opinions From A Freethinking Roughneck, released last October, was full of political and social commentary. He joined both of Tennessee’s senators this summer to show support for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act. And last month he sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Republican National Convention. If that’s not enough, he has a role in a new movie that satirizes liberalism, An American Carol.

In a completely apolitical note, look for Trace’s next album, 10, to be released Nov. 25. That’s nearly two weeks after "The 42nd Annual CMA Awards", where he’s up for two honors: Single and Music Video of the Year, for "You’re Gonna Miss This."