When Michigan native Mitt Romney (also the owner of a Ken doll bouffant) was the candidate, Republicans didn’t stand a chance. His home state remained the cornerstone of the Democrats vaunted “blue wall” that gave them a lock on the electoral college. Before Trump, no Republican presidential candidate had won the state in nearly 30 years. Romney lost it by nine points to Barack Obama.

Kid Rock supported both Romney and Trump and identifies himself with the more libertarian wing of the party. But being from Detroit and having a long-term business relationship with Chevrolet, one would probably be safe to assume that his libertarianism probably extends to free speech and skepticism of foreign military misadventures rather than to the free trade absolutism and open borders of think-tank libertarians. In other words, the common sense American libertarianism that says, “you mind your business and I’ll mind mine.”

When they read the lyrics to some of Kid Rock’s early songs the pearl-clutchers will bemoan the lost virtue of the Republican Party (“Oh, the language!“), but voters just want someone who represents their interests and gets the job done. Less talk, more action. The return of rough around the edges citizen-politicians may offend the delicate sensibilities of our ruling class, but it’s what America’s Founders wanted and what the times demand.