AllMusic2012ByByThom Jurek2012"Sure enough, because of its soapbox style, Election Special is the most overtly political album of Cooder's career. As such, it serves two purposes: one is that it is the most organic record he's issued in almost two decades; and, more importantly, it restores topical protest music to a bona fide place in American cultural life".Read review
The guardiand. 2. Sep. 2012ByByKitty Empired. 2. Sep. 2012"The first world is in dire straits and it's all the fault of Republicans - architects of Guantánamo and unfeeling people who tie their dogs to the roofs of their cars then drive off (Mutt Romney's Blues). Going To Tampa is a sniggering country tune that imagines a National Rifle Association woman talking dirty to a Tea Party man; Cold Cold Feeling encapsulates the loneliness of President Obama as an embattled blues".Read review
fRoots2012 OctoberByByJamie Renton2012 October"Clearly rushed out in order to spread its righteous message before the US election (and sounding all the better for having not been mucked about with too much), [Election Special] tackles political issues with dark humour ... [It] has the sound of something that had to be made because our man had things to say. And he's on great musical form throughout, although Cooder Junior strikes me as a pretty rudimentary drummer. But no matter, the ghost of Woody Guthrie would very much approve of this enterprise".