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The McCain campaign loves to use music without authorization consent from the original owner. Of course, John McCain doesn’t even know how to use a computer, so we won’t hold this against him.

To promote the nomination of Sarah Palin as VP, and her lovely nickname of ‘Barracuda’ the McCain campaign played Heart’s song, Barracuda. Immediately after seeing (and hearing) their song being used at the RNC, cease and desist letters were sent out to the campaign:

“The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission,” the members of Heart said in a statement. “We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes are honored.”

Palin actually earned the name of ‘Barracuda’ for her play on the high school basketball team and her win in the 2nd largest town in Alaska, Wasilla. For those of you not familiar, Palin brought partisan politics to the small town, and is known to be one of the most divisive figures in Alaskan politics in recent years.

From the words of Heart on what the song represents:

“Sarah Palin’s views and values in no way represent us as American women. The song ‘Barracuda’ was written in the late ’70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there’s irony in Republican strategists’ choice to make use of it there.”

Perhaps this would have been a better song choice for the RNC announcement.