Editing Sonny Bono (section)

=== Political career ===
{{See also|Copyright Term Extension Act}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan shaking hands with Sonny Bono and Mary Bono.jpg|thumb|President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan are greeted by Sonny Bono and Mary Bono on their arrival via [[Air Force One]] in Palm Springs, California, December 29, 1988.|left|185x185px]]
Bono entered politics after experiencing frustration with local government bureaucracy while trying to open a restaurant in [[Palm Springs, California]]. He made a successful bid for mayor, and served from 1988 to 1992.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000622| title=Bono, Sonny – Biographical Information| publisher=Bioguide.congress.gov| access-date=October 8, 2009}}</ref> As mayor, Bono spearheaded the creation of the [[Palm Springs International Film Festival]], which is held each year in his memory.

Bono ran for the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nomination for [[United States Senate]] in 1992, but lost to the more conservative [[Bruce Herschensohn]], who lost the general election to Democrat [[Barbara Boxer]]. Bono and Herschensohn became close friends after the campaign. In 1994, Bono planned to run for lieutenant governor, but decided to run for Congress when Republican [[Al McCandless]] announced his retirement. Bono won the Republican nomination and the general election to represent [[California's 44th congressional district]]. He was reelected in 1996, and served from January 1995 until his death.

[[File:Sonny Bono.jpg|thumb|Bono's official portrait, 1995]]

In the House, Bono was one of 12 co-sponsors of a House bill extending [[copyright]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d105:HR02589: |title=Bill Summary & Status – 105th Congress (1997–1998) – H.R.2589 – THOMAS (Library of Congress) |publisher=Thomas.loc.gov |date=March 26, 1998 |access-date=April 25, 2012 |archive-date=November 27, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081127023519/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d105:HR02589: |url-status=dead }}</ref> Although that bill was never voted on in the Senate, a similar Senate bill was passed after his death and named the [[Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act]] in his memory. It is also known (derisively) as the [[Mickey Mouse]] Protection Act.<ref>Lawrence Lessig, ''Copyright's First Amendment'', 48 UCLA L. Rev. 1057, 1065 (2001)</ref>

He championed the restoration of the [[Salton Sea]],<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9801/16/salton.sea/index.html| title=Salton Sea rescue to be named for Sonny Bono| publisher=[[CNN]]| date=January 16, 1998}}</ref> bringing the giant lake's plight to national attention. In 1998, then [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[Newt Gingrich]] made a public appearance and speech at the shore of the lake on Bono's behalf.

In their book ''Tell Newt to Shut Up'', [[David Maraniss]] and [[Michael Weisskopf]] credit Bono with being the first person to recognize Gingrich's public relations problems in 1995. Drawing on his long experience as a celebrity and entertainment producer, Bono (according to Maraniss and Weisskopf) recognized that Gingrich's status had changed from politician to celebrity and that he was not making allowances for that change:

{{blockquote|You're a celebrity now... The rules are different for celebrities. I know it. I've been there. I've been a celebrity. I used to be a bigger celebrity. But let me tell you, you're not being handled right. This is not political news coverage. This is celebrity status. You need handlers. You need to understand what you're doing. You need to understand the attitude of the media toward celebrities.}}

Bono remains the only member of Congress to have scored a number-one pop single on the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Rewinding the Charts: Fifty Years Ago, Sonny & Cher 'Got' to No. 1| url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6221458/rewinding-the-charts-fifty-years-ago-sonny-cher-got-to-no-1| magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]| access-date=December 2, 2017}}</ref>