Turn up the volume: Song predictions for the 2012 campaigns

Get ready for campaign-song onslaught. As President Obama and the GOP presidential candidates get more serious about hitting the 2012 campaign trail, their chosen songs will begin to play on repeat. 

“Edge of Glory” by Lady Gaga

Candidate most likely to use this song: Obama

Dark-horse choice: GOP hopeful Mitt Romney

Relevant lyrics: 

I’m on the edge of glory

And I’m hanging on a moment of truth

Out on the edge of glory

And I’m hanging on a moment with you

I’m on the edge

Not only do the lyrics make sense for Obama — if you’re on an edge, you’re teetering between safety and disaster — but Gaga recently attended a $35,800-a-plate fundraiser for the president in California. He might have a new ally in the world’s biggest pop star. And if he’s looking to reignite the youth vote, a Gaga song might make for a good entrée.

Romney, too, has been on the edge of glory for a while now — so close to his presidential dreams. Will 2012 be his year? 

“Someone Like You” by Adele

Candidate most likely to use this song: GOP pizza magnate Herman Cain 

Dark-horse choices: New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie (if he runs), former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin (if she runs)

Relevant lyrics: 

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited

But I couldn’t stay away, I couldn’t fight it

I had hoped you’d see my face and that you’d be reminded 

That for me it isn’t over 

Cain is the latest surprise in the GOP presidential field, having won the recent Florida straw poll, a victory that led to a surge in other standings. As for Christie and Palin, their entry into the contest would come to the chagrin of top candidates Romney and Rick Perry.

“Without You” by David Guetta featuring Usher

Candidate most likely to use this song: Obama

Dark-horse choice: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) 

Relevant lyrics: 

I can’t win, I can’t reign

I will never win this game

Without you, without you

I am lost, I am vain,

I will never be the same

Without you, without you

I won’t run, I won’t fly

I will never make it by

Without you, without you

I can’t rest, I can’t fight

All I need is you and I,

Without you, without … you

As his approval ratings among most demographics sink, Obama is trying to win back the groups that launched him to victory in 2008: black, Latino and youth voters. Bachmann, meanwhile, knows she’ll go nowhere without the social-conservative bloc behind her, which is why she recently told an audience at Liberty University, “Don’t settle.”

Do you have suggestions for a pop song one of the 2012 candidates should use? Send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .