When it comes to art and popular culture, several past presidents of the United States haven't quite gotten it.

Ronald Reagan used Bruce Springsteen's perpetually misunderstood "Born in the U.S.A.," about disaffected Vietnam War veterans facing economically tough times back in the states, as a campaign anthem in 1984. George W. Bush lists Creedence Clearwater Revival as one of his favorite bands, according to a 2005 New York Times article. Ironically, one of the band's biggest hits, "Fortunate Son," is an anti-war protest about the sons of millionaires and politicians who are able to avoid going to war.

So as someone who follows politics just as much as music, movies and television, President-Elect Barack Obama is a breath of fresh air. Regardless of who you voted for in the election last week, it has to be acknowledged and appreciated that Obama is the first post-baby boomer president, one with his ear tuned to popular entertainment.

Obviously, it's yet to be seen if he has the ability to put an end to partisanship and bring change to the country, but his entertainment choices may give hints to how Obama will think things through and look at both sides of an issue.

In January 2008, only days before the crucial Nevada Democratic primary, Obama told the Las Vegas Sun that HBO's gritty drama The Wire was his favorite television show. For those unfamiliar with the program, it concerns Baltimore drug dealers, the undercover informants in their crews and the corrupt politicians running the show.

Obama added his favorite character on the show is Omar Little, the gay, black, shotgun-toting stick-up artist who robs and kills drug dealers. The then-candidate even called him a "great guy."

While this may have sounded an alarm bell for those who were skeptical about the relatively inexperienced Obama, who admitted in his memoir, Dreams from My Father, to using cocaine and marijuana as a teenager, his answers actually showed how he understands that not everything is black and white. The Wire's central theme is drug dealers can do good, and police officers and politicians can do evil.

For the record, former Republican presidential candidate John McCain's answer was 24, a relatively safe answer for the senator who appeared on the terrorist-demolishing show in 2006. It must be a bit uncomfortable, though, for the former prisoner of war to sit through the kneecap shooting and finger slicing during the television series.

The president-elect's awareness of popular music is also pretty comforting. In an interview with Rolling Stone from this past summer, Obama listed The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Jay-Z, Bob Dylan and Ludacris (whom Obama has spoken and met with) as some of his favorite artists. He praised rap music as a whole, calling it "genius" and saying it breaks down barriers within the music world.

Knowing that the likes of Bill O'Reilly, who has squabbled with Ludacris over his lyrics, wouldn't let him get away with comments like that, Obama admitted he is "troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics" and worries about what it is teaching his daughters.

Obama avoided getting into hot water again by having his campaign condemn a song by Ludacris that referred to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, as an "irrelevant b----" and McCain as someone who doesn't "belong in any chair unless he's paralyzed," according to a blog entry on politico.com in July.

To put Obama's hip-hop credentials into perspective with other politicians, track down the YouTube video of Mitt Romney barking "Who Let the Dogs Out?" with a group of young black supporters. Or Wesley Clark's 2004 ad talking to college-aged voters about whether OutKast had really broken up or not.

Somewhere on the other end of the modern musical spectrum is Obama's unusually close connection to the indie-rock world. The National, Wilco, The Decemberists and The Arcade Fire are a few of the bands who performed fundraising concerts in swing states in the weeks leading up to the election.

Sure, this isn't anything too groundbreaking for these types of bands: R.E.M., Death Cab For Cutie and Bright Eyes were all part of 2004's "Vote For Change" tour for the Democratic ticket. But, what makes this time around different is Obama's connection with some of them on a personal level.

For example, Win Butler of The Arcade Fire was shocked when Obama himself called him on his cell phone to thank them while the band was eating lunch at Taco Bell, according to a March blog entry on knittingconfidential.blogspot.com. Imagine our current president, or McCain, who has listed ABBA as his favorite group to various reporters, making that phone call without cracking up.

Both being from the city of Chicago, Obama has developed something of a close relationship with Wilco, having introduced the band onstage at Farm Aid in 2005 and appeared with it on the same episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Obama has even said he "loves" Wilco and has it on his iPod.

So try to put aside what you think about diplomacy without preconditions, the subsidization of ethanol or raising the capital gains tax.

From an arts perspective, can we all at least agree it's outstanding we will have a president who is more in tune with modern popular culture than any in the last century?

Kyle Wall is a senior majoring in journalism and is a Collegian television reporter. His e-mail address is kaw5055@psu.edu.