John McCain and Barack Obama recently revealed some of their favorite movies, TV shows and musical artists, and it's clear that there was no pandering or image-adjusting involved in their answers. We're sure that Obama didn't cite old TV shows like M*A*S*H and The Dick Van Dyke Show just to make himself seem less young, and of course McCain is a fan of Usher! No, there's no way a candidate would use this opportunity to target specific demographics with overly-researched responses. By the way, here's some stuff that didn't make it into that article:

On Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
John McCain: "Well, I think the show's earlier years on the WB are clearly better than those last two seasons on UPN. The supernatural elements were perfect metaphors for the difficulties our young people have in high school, and when Buffy saved the world from the evil Glorificus, her sacrifice was the logical end to her service on this earth. After she was resurrected, the mood changed, and, despite the musical episode, I don't think all that gloom and doom sent the right message. I mean, did they even finish college? I don't think so."

On late-period musical theater:
Barack Obama: "Despite the emergence of the Brown-Lippa-LaChiusa triptych and younger, DIY voices like Lopez/Marx and Joe Iconis and in the post-Larson era, no one writing today even approaches the emotional depth, harmonic complexity and the spiritual clarity evident in the work of the still-living legend Stephen Sondheim. Maybe Adam Guettel, but he supports drilling."

On the works of H.P. Lovecraft:
John McCain: "Though it would be fashionable to choose 'The Call of Cthulhu' or 'At the Mountains of Madness,' my heart beats blackest for 'The Dunwich Horror.' You cannot discount the prominence of both The Necronomicon and Yog-Sothoth in a single work. Sacrifice your sallow mortal flesh to this Great Old One and the stars shall weep at our infernal feast. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!"