Sha Na Na’s Bowzer sings Medicare’s praises

You're driving down the Strip on Thursday morning, maybe getting off work or going to the mall, when you spot a billboard truck at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.

You take a quick look as you drive. Medicare something. Romney something. Blah blah blah.

Ah, politics, the screaming season. You shake your head.

Wait a second.

You glance back over your shoulder, check the rear-view.

Was that Bowzer in a yellow T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up?

Well, yes it was.

"Although I love the '50s, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea to return to the social policies of the 1950s," he's saying, that famous baritone carrying over the sound of passing cars. "For instance, no Medicare."

The days when a political action group could issue a report or send out a news release and wait for the attention they so desperately desire are long gone.

Nope. Nowadays, you must Perform a Stunt.

Like last week, when the folks who don't want to see President Barack Obama re-elected staged a gas station takeover so they could sell gas for $1.84 a gallon in an attempt to get people upset over today's high gas prices.

On Thursday, the folks who don't want to see Mitt Romney get elected staged a rally at the famous Las Vegas sign and brought a newly minted senior citizen with them. John "Bowzer" Bauman, the original deep-voiced anchor of the once-popular '50s nostalgia cover group Sha Na Na, turned 65 two weeks ago. He has been on stage, in one way or another, for 42 years.

Bowzer is now the "celebrity spokesperson" for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare.

He and others from the group spoke Thursday about Romney's plans, which they do not like at all. They encourage voters to choose candidates who promise not to mess with Medicare and Social Security.

The self-described nonpartisan organization staged the rally Thursday morning at the sign. They chanted. They trotted out the mobile billboard. All 11 of them did. That's how many people they had, sporting matching yellow T-shirts.

Edith Byrd was one of them. She's 60. She suffered a bad health scare last year. She's worried that the social programs won't be around much longer.

"I'm here to support Medicare," she said. "We have to fight and we have to keep fighting for Medicare."

No tourists happened by to listen. No random citizens stopped. No cars appeared to pull in just to see what was going on. The TV cameras didn't show up, either. There was just one print reporter and a photographer, there for the spectacle.

"It's true," Bowzer said of the need to perform a stunt. "Even 42 years ago, I understood. There's a lot of clutter."

So, the rolling billboard. The celebrity. The T-shirts and the gas and the shoutfests on cable TV and the empty chair sharing a stage with a film icon.

Bowzer noted that in his 42 years on stage, things have changed a lot.

There are a thousand channels now, and smartphones and iPads and Twitter and Facebook and news alerts all day long. None of that used to exist.

So it's hard getting folks to pay attention.

Even for Bowzer.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.