“Are You Scared?”

That’s the question musician Kid Rock posed on kidrockforsenate.com, the new website that launched this week. Teasing an unexpected run for office, the site features a “Kid Rock ’18 for U.S. Senate” campaign logo and a photo of the self-proclaimed “American Bad Ass” seated in an executive office.

Was this for real? Speculation predictably blazed, and the Detroit rocker took to his Twitter account to try and put it to rest: “I have had a ton of emails and texts asking me if this website is real … kidrockforsenate.com. The answer is an absolute YES.”

After press outlets reported that the singer had not yet registered with the Federal Election Commission, Kid Rock (a Republican and vocal supporter of President Trump) took to his website for an announcement, saying he still had time to file his paperwork with the FEC. The man born Robert Ritchie also acknowledged the current senator of Michigan, Democrat Debbie Stabenow, saying, “Senator Stabenow and I do share a love of music, although probably not the same kind. I concede she is better at playing politics than I am so I’ll keep doing what I do best, which is being a voice for tax paying, hardworking AMERICANS …”

So yes, what you came for: the merchandise. Kid Rock is keeping it pretty simple so far with a quartet of items featuring his campaign logo: a white T-shirt, trucker hat, yard sign and bumper sticker. But he’s already unveiled a handful of choice slogans on his campaign page – among them: I’ll Rock the Party, You Never Met a Politician Quite Like Me and Pimp of the Nation. Couple that with the unapologetic branded apparel sold for his music career, and you can just imagine the delicious possibilities if his candidacy gets legs.

And while we’d normally say buy this campaign merch for sheer novelty before it goes away, we’ve all learned not to be too hasty about such things ...