WASHINGTON – What does it take for a song to make the campaign playlists of both the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets?

It should be a little bit country and a little rock n’ roll. It should have a beat you can groove to and a dash of patriotism. And hold the controversy.

Mix it together and what do you have? You might hear “Only in America,” a Brooks & Dunn country song that crosses party lines.

Both presidential tickets have played the song at campaign rallies, as did President Bush four years ago. Its uplifting message: “Only in America, where we dream as big as we want to.” In fact, the song says, “one might just be president.”

“Only in America” hits just the right note for presidential campaigns, where a song is more than a song. The soundtracks of rallies don’t happen by chance. The campaigns search for the right message, style and tone.

“The whole emotional point is to draw people in and to get them excited,” said Cathi C. Wilson, an independent music and political communications researcher.

Campaigns want to create a sense of community at a rally, and it’s more about beat than lyrics, said Patrick Warfield, assistant professor of musicology at Georgetown University.

“Playing songs that have strong beats, songs that have riff patterns, songs that have well-known choruses are a way a getting a body of people in sync before a candidate comes out,” he said. “To sort of pump them up in the way athletes use music.”

Andy Greene, an assistant editor at Rolling Stone magazine, said the feelings a song generates are what’s important.

“They want a really uplifting song that seems full of promise, even if it’s not patriotic,” he said.

At rallies in Virginia with the vice presidential candidates – Democrat Joe Biden in Sterling and Republican Sarah Palin in Richmond -the campaigns played popular rock, country and R&B songs, many of them decades old.

Wilson said both campaigns were attempting to capture the same demographic – middle-aged voters – and touched on similar themes by creating uplifting soundtracks that project an image of the candidate as patriotic, battle-ready and a change agent.

“They might not agree, but I think they’re actually sending similar messages,” she said. “These could be interchangeable.”

The lyrics do matter, Wilson said, and are an attempt by campaigns to reinforce the message they are pushing.

Biden walked onstage to the U2 song, “Beautiful Day.” The upbeat rock song’s lyrics touch on themes of change and overcoming obstacles. Palin walked onstage to “She’s Not Just a Pretty Face” by Shania Twain.

“It’s pretty obvious they want to counter the perception she’s just a beauty queen,” said Rolling Stone’s Greene.

The McCain and Obama campaigns were unwilling to talk about their use of music at rallies. But Kevin Madden, the senior communications strategist for Mitt Romney during his run for the Republican nomination, said the campaigns’ playlists are calculated by staffers.

The campaigns develop a list of songs and tweak playlists to cater to their audience. Romney usually came onstage to Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation” because his message was that Washington is all talk and no action, Madden said.

“It helps set a mood for the media images people see on TV that night,” he said. “It’s part of the pageantry of a campaign in a 24-7 news cycle.”

The goal is to make the songs fit a theme, but they also must be generic and non-abrasive, he said. A song with offensive lyrics or by an artist that may not support a candidate can prove to be a distraction by generating “silly news stories,” Madden said.

That’s why you don’t hear any hip-hop or rap music at the events, Warfield said, but that could change as audiences age.

“I bet you in 20 years we will hear hip-hop at a rally,” the Georgetown professor said.

Warfield said that campaigns historically used existing music the public was familiar with because voters would join in singing. The campaigns changed the words to fit their candidate, such as when Harry Truman chose a 1920s Broadway show tune, “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” for his 1948 campaign song.

Bill Clinton encouraged the trend of using contemporary pop music in 1992 by choosing songs familiar to Baby Boomers, such as Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop.” The song became synonymous with the campaign.

This election year, some songs have become hits online – like “Yes We Can” by Obama supporter Will.i.am. But neither presidential candidate has used a song that’s become his own alone, Wilson said.

“I haven’t seen either campaign grab onto something that brands the candidate,” she said.

“Only in America,” which came out just before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, may come closest to being a universal choice, Greene said.

“It’s used by everybody,” he said. “It’s sort of that rare non-partisan song.”

Sampling of Biden’s playlist from a rally in Sterling, Va.

“The Rising” – Bruce Springsteen

“Won’t Back Down” – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

“A Change Will Do You Good” – Sheryl Crow

“Beautiful Day” – U2

“Our Country” – John Mellencamp
Sampling of Palin’s playlist from a rally in Richmond, Va.

“Eye of the Tiger” – Survivor

“Johnny B. Goode” – Chuck Berry

“You’ve Got to Stand for Something” – Aaron Tippin

“God Bless the U.S.A.” – Lee Greenwood

“She’s Not Just a Pretty Face” – Shania Twain
Played at both the Biden and Palin rallies

“Life is a Highway” – Rascal Flatts

“Only in America” – Brooks & Dunn

“Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” – McFadden and Whitehead