John Cougar Mellencamp Admires Mama Grizzly Sarah Palin

Small town girl Sarah Palin is having her praises sung again, but this time from an actual singer: John Mellencamp. The rocker, who publicly supported Obama‘s 2008 presidential campaign, defended her intelligence, saying that people too often underestimate her “just because she says things and winks.” He added that “she’s pushing the right buttons…you can’t be stupid and do that.”

The interview comes as a surprise to many, given Mellencamp’s support for Obama, and that he asked Palin’s running mate Sen. John MCain to stop using his songs. Perhaps it exposes yet another rift between establishment Republicans like McCain and the populist Tea Party?

Politics Daily reports that while Mellencamp doesn’t quite agree with all of her positions, he thinks that “she knows exactly what she’s doing.” Read the original AP story here.

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