We know from previous glances at Obama's i-Pod that he is a hip-hop fan but rap is a genre that remains divisive and controversial, particularly with older voters. This playlist is all about playing it safe. When it comes to black music, Obama's re-election campaign favours stars who have been around so long race is no longer even an issue: Earth Wind and Fire, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, The Impressions. Younger black artists Darius Rucker and Jennifer Hudson play the kind of uplifting gospel inflected soul that is closely associated with the wholesome values of church. It's an Oprah Winfrey soundtrack. Obama's hip-hop fraternity might be justified in feeling the sting of cultural betrayal, but Jay-Z is amongst rappers who have made it clear they understand the President's need to maintain a distance from hip-hop's controversial connotations. Anyway, when it comes to a choice between Obama and Mitt Romney, the President doesn't really have to worry about the hip-hop vote. The most interesting elements of the playlist is the smattering of leftfield artists, woozy alt rockers Wilco (on message with I Got You), Portland indie rocker's AgesandAges (whose No Nostalgia features the onwards and upwards exhortation of "No looking back!" and is slightly contradicted by Canada's highly strung ensemble Arcade Fire, whose stirring We Used To Wait suggests a return to the hope motif of the last election: "Now our lives are changing fast / Hope that something pure can last." The special relationship is maintained, meanwhile, by the appearance of two hip and happening young British acts. Florence and the Machine decidedly uncontroversial hit version of disco anthem You've Got The Love might be an obvious choice for any upbeat party rally, but the inclusion of Noah And The Whale's Tonights The Night suggests that someone in Obama's musical cabinet is a genuine anglophile. The relatively unheralded British group manage the difficult feat of being conveying optimism and positivity without sounding in the least corny or dumb. The only song on the playlist that retains any degree of ambiguity is classic soul track Green Onions by Booker T & The MGs. Being an instrumental, it doesn't exactly lend itself to political sloganeering. Yet it might be the playlists strongest cut. When Obama walks on to that low slung groove, the message will ring out loud and clear. He's the coolest damn President the country has ever seen.