Todd, here you go with the copyright thing again.
Where is the commercial intent? Why wouldn't use of the song to make a political statement be considered "fair use?" Likening Sarah Palin to a "barracuda" is a political statement, isn't it?
What is REALLY happening is that the copyright holder is trying to make a political statement by objecting to the unlicensed use of the material. Jackson Browne and the Heart people depicted above don't like their songs being used by the RNC because of their POLITICS, not becuase they are champions of intellectual property rights.
I didn't see Bono objecting to your buddy Obama's coming on stage to "City of Blinding Lights"-- I guess the DNC gets a pass when it comes to enforcement? Or shall we consider that U2 song to be in the public domain because Island/Interscope has failed to sue the DNC?
Whatever, if it were me I wouldn't give them the airtime. Here's a fun Wikipedia entry on campaign songs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_song -maybe in 2012 people should commission their own artists to write original music, now THAT would be supporting creativity!