Shepard brings tweaked Eurythmics hit to unconventional campaign

Still from Shepard's YouTube video

For Jack Shepard, a Minnesotan who fled the state for Italy following accusations of arson and other crimes, it’s a “sweet dream,” indeed: ousting 4th Congressional District candidate Teresa Collett in the Aug. 10 GOP primary. Shepard continued his unorthodox campaign Monday with the release of a new YouTube video that reinterprets The Eurythmics’ 1983 hit with lyrics like, “Everybody’s looking for leaders. My opponent wants to use you, and she wants to pass laws to abuse you.” Shepard, who filed as a Republican, is clear on his website why he wants Collett out: her views on homosexuality, choice and same-sex marriage are “way, way too extreme for Minnesota voters,” and by beating Collett, he “guarantees the re-election of Betty McCollum.”

Shepard, a candidate in every election since 2002, is running on a platform supportive of gay marriage, legalized medical marijuana, ex-offender rehabilitation and reproductive choice. Collett, a University of St. Thomas law professor, testified during a symbolic legislative hearing on same-sex marriage that, well, all hell would break lose if gay marriage were legalized here. As Andy Birkey reported in February, she said:

“Make no mistake: Marriage, as a civil institution, as a legal institution, is grounded not merely in religion but also in the biological reality that sex makes children and children need a mom and a dad,” she said. “And should we choose to redefine that legally we will put the religious and moral beliefs of all Minnesotans at issue.”

“Churches and religiously affiliated institutions will lose their tax-exempt status,” she said. She claimed that Christian colleges would be forced to house same-sex couples in dorms, social work students would be kicked out of school if they refused to counsel gays and lesbians, politicians would revoke funds from religious organizations, and parents would be arrested for speaking out against homosexuality.

Watch Shepard’s video: