If we were to choose the president of the United States by music cred and not by the Electoral College set forth by the Constitution’s Article II, I believe the victor would be clear.
Between the two major party candidates, Barack Obama has the iPod ready to lead the nation on Jan. 21.

John McCain’s appellation of “McSame” could be extended to this metric, beyond the more common accusations of similarity to the incumbent re-economic policy, Social Security privatization and so forth.
News junkies will recall that George W. Bush’s iPod contents were revealed some years ago. John Fogerty’s atrocious “Centerfield” was featured. This is the guy who traded Sammy Sosa while he was managing general partner. The Argonaut’s own Johnny Ballgame would note that as one of the worst deals in baseball, and I would note that song as one of the worst in Fogerty’s catalog.

Among many other things, fratties have a favorite song in common with George W. Bush—“Brown-Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison (as reported by the New York Times in 2005). The Archies (of “Sugar, Sugar”) and the Beach Boys also appear, according to a Brit Hume interview from the same year.
John McCain has quoted from the Beach Boys on the stump, infamously changing “Barbara Ann’s” chorus to “bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran.” What a joker.

Seriously though, as reported by Blender Magazine, McCain has two ABBA songs in his top-10-best-ever. Neither “Mamma Mia” nor “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” are among the selections.
McCain, or his campaign, ranked “Dancing Queen” at No. 1. Obama chose “Ready Or Not” by The Fugees.

Obama gets points off for listing U2 and especially for listing a track from its atrocious 2004 effort “How to Build an Atomic Bomb.”
McCain establishes himself as the candidate of the establishment, with picks like “Sweet Caroline” and “What a Wonderful World” (Louis Armstrong) – nobody is saying these aren’t great songs, but they’re about as obvious as picking the Beatles as your favorite band. The Beatles, notably, did not make either list.

In his cover interview with Rolling Stone, Obama was quoted as being “partial” to “Blood On the Tracks,” by Bob Dylan, but reserving the title of most-preferred Dylan song for “Maggie’s Farm,” from “Bringing it All Back Home.”

If I were more snarky, I might note here McCain’s campaign has been asked to cease and desist its employment of songs by John Mellencamp (“Pink Houses”), Heart (“Barracuda”), Jackson Browne (“Running on Empty”) and Van Halen (“Right Now”).
Mellencamp, Heart, and Browne all have endorsed Barack Obama. Heart, apparently powerless to force the GOP to stop using its song, has pledged to donate all royalties from its use toward the Obama campaign.

Fugees vs. ABBA. Um, I’m going to vote for change.

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