Assessing Obama and McCain's TV picks

The self-proclaimed favorite TV shows of Barack Obama and John McCain don't tell you who the candidates are. They tell you who they believe they need to be.

Take Barack Obama. His conservative critics say he’s too inexperienced and not patriotic enough. Now Obama tells EW he and his family like "M*A*S*H" and the "Dick Van Dyke Show” -- older-skewing classic American TV chestnuts. Heck, "Van Dyke" was canceled when Obama was 5 years old.

This is a different impression than voters had of Obama's TV preferences earlier this year. Media reports said Obama's favorite show was “The Wire." But viewers of that critically acclaimed if modestly rated urban drama are not exactly what Obama needs to win hearts and minds of middle America (and, for the record, Obama wasn't quoted as saying it; an actor on the show said Obama said it, which isn't quite the same thing).

The slam on John McCain is, of course, the opposite. That he’s old, out of touch. So McCain says his favorite shows are "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Dexter" and "The Wire" -- edgy contemporary cable fare -– along with the always safe choice of “Seinfeld” reruns.

Among media portrayals of U.S. presidents, McCain adds he admired President Palmer from Fox’s “24.” Not only is “24” considered an appropriately cool show, but Palmer was a winning portrayal of a tough, conservative African American president. It's a crafty choice on McCain's part, like putting the race card through a paper shredder. (For bonus points, McCain should  try chastising CBS for canceling "Moonlight"; he could instantly shore up his weaker demos among women by a few million votes).

The candidates did slightly similar dance steps when asked their favorite music performers. Obama says he likes Frank Sinatra; McCain says he likes Usher.

So are our assumptions about the candidates wildly off base? Or are even their alleged TiVo picks as programmed as the channels they air on? With McCain and Obama having shot humorous campaign commercials to run during NBC's "Last Comic Standing," the message and the medium seem pretty much the same.