Music writers characterize Cooder 's sentiments and political stance on the album as liberal and populist . Joseph Jon Lanthier of Slant Magazine observes " liberal convictions " and a " bleeding heart " in his lyrics , which he says express " reductive sympathy for President Obama and suspicions that fat cats are perverting the Bill of Rights " . Music essayist Robert Christgau writes that Cooder " reappl ies the Popular Front mindset to the messy compromises of electoral politics , and all the must-hears illuminate the 2012 presidential election rather than merely referencing it " . Bud Scoppa of '' Uncut '' calls the album " an impassioned screed against the dumbing down of America " and comments that Cooder eschews conventional " preaching " for " three-dimensional characters whose beliefs and opinions span the political spectrum of America in 2012 . " Allmusic 's Thom Jurek cites it as " the most overtly political album of Cooder 's career " to due its " soapbox style " and feels that the songs " express what he considers to be , as both an artist and a pissed-off citizen , the high-stakes historical gamble of the 2012 presidential and congressional contest . " " Mutt Romney Blues " is a three-chord , acoustic Delta blues song . Drawing parallels between the Mitt Romney dog incident and his political " plans and schemes " , the song criticizes Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and is sung from the perspective of the Romney family 's dog . Cooder was inspired by Al Sharpton 's quote " how he treated his dog tells you a lot about him " , and found the dog to be " a useful character ... when you view it in the light of the blues . Like a servant , a yardman , someone very low in the social order . He 's just begging to be let down from the car roof . " Bud Scoppa of '' Uncut '' characterizes the song as " the musical equivalent of a political cartoon " . " Brother Is Gone " is poignantly styled as a sad folktale and features a haunting mandolin riff , a rueful tone , and wounded vocals . Its lyrics attribute the conservative Koch Brothers to the Deal with the Devil myth , which Cooder adapted from Robert Johnson 's " Cross Road Blues " . The lyrics cite their " crossroads " as " the prairie town of Wichita " , where Koch Industries is headquartered . He said in an interview that " the only logical explanation for the Brothers I could come up with is , they made their deal at the crossroads with Satan . " AllMusic 's Thom Jurek cites it as " among the finest songs Cooder 's written . " " The Wall Street Part of Town " incorporates mandolin , Americana guitar riffs , and offers encouragement to protesters . Literary journalist Alec Wilkinson writes that the song 's narrator is " looking for refuge in the part of town where the wind always blows at your back and the ground tilts in your favor . " " Guantanamo " features cascading guitar by Cooder and handclaps . The song is about the nadir of human depravity . A slow , 12-bar blues lament , " Cold Cold Feeling " features juke joint , bottleneck guitar , and lyrics placing Barack Obama as the narrator singing his blues in the White House . Cooder meant to draw sympathy from listeners for Barack Obama . Geoff Cowart of musicOMH draws similarities of the song to " the voodoo blues of Screaming Jay Hawkins " . " Going to Tampa " is a string band country song in Alla breve meter . Using scathing humor and burlesque lyrical elements , the song 's farcical lyrics depict a fictional hijacking of the 2012 Republican National Convention by the Tea Party , as Cooder accuses both parties of racism and social engineering
2012 Republican National Convention
2012 Republican National Convention
Election Special