A new and amusing avenue for political speculation has opened  in the last few days since the Obama campaign released its official playlist. What songs do the candidates play at their rallies? Why?

Mistakes have been made. Artists don't always appreciate the attention, and carelessness can create self-satire.  Two summers ago, a group called National Organization for Marriage rallied in  Madison, Wisconsin to oppose gay marriage rights. Their country-music playlist must have been compiled by someone who did not know the songs and selected tracks by title alone. I laughed out loud when their virtual deejay tried to pump us up to celebrate the joys of traditional marriage with Martina McBride’s Independence Day.

She seemed all right by dawn's early light
Though she looked a little worried and weak.
She tried to pretend he wasn't drinking again
But daddy left the proof on her cheek.
…
Well, word gets a round in a small, small town
They said he was a dangerous man.
Mama was proud and she stood her ground,
But she knew she was on the losin' end.
…
She lit up the sky that Fourth of July.
By the time that the firemen come
They just put out the flames and took down some names
And sent me to the county home.
…
Let Freedom ring! Let the white dove sing!
Let the whole world know that today is the day of reckoning!
Let the weak be strong! Let the right be wrong!
Roll the stone away! Let the guilty pay!
It's Independence Day!

I can only imagine the careful, closed-door strategy debates that selected the tunes for  Barack Obama’s recently released campaign playlist . This is the music that will get the crowd in the mood at his campaign appearances:

No Doubt: Different People
Earth Wind & Fire Experience: Got To Get You Into My Life
Booker T. & The MG’s: Green Onions
Wilco: I Got You
The Impressions: Keep On Pushing
Jennifer Hudson: Love You I Do
AgesandAges: No Nostalgia
Ledisi: Raise Up Sugarland: Stand Up
Darius Rucker: This
Arcade Fire: We Used to Wait
Florence And The Machine: You’ve Got The Love
James Taylor: Your Smiling Face
REO Speedwagon: Roll With The Changes
Raphael Saadiq: Keep Marchin’
Noah And The Whale: Tonight’s The Kind Of Night
Zac Brown Band: Keep Me In Mind
Aretha Franklin: The Weight
U2: Even Better Than The Real Thing
Dierks Bentley: Home Sugarland: Everyday America
Darius Rucker: Learn To Live
Al Green: Let’s Stay Together (of course)
Electric Light Orchestra: Mr. Blue Sky
Montgomery Gentry: My Town
Ricky Martin, Joss Stone: The Best Thing About Me Is You
Ray LaMontagne: You Are The Best Thing
Bruce Springsteen: We Take Care Of Our Own

It got me to thinking: What would I put on a presidential campaign's playlist? With no 20-something political strategists to help me out, I would start with:

Garth Brooks: We Shall Be Free
Bruce Springsteen: The Rising
O'Jays: Love Train
Jackson Browne: Lives in the Balance
Elvis Costello: What's So Funny 'bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?
Stevie Wonder: Higher Ground

What about you? Comments are open.