Whatever possessed John McCain? Until last week the Republican presidential candidate had a perfectly solid campaign song. Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode may not have been an inspired choice, but it surely did the job for which it was chosen.

Now though, it’s Take a Chance on Me. McCain’s decision to switch from a hardy rock’n’roll perennial to the Abba girls’ plea for pity – addressing someone who clearly has no intention of reciprocating their advances – is a frankly awful idea. It’s as though McCain had sought permission for the use of almost every remotely suitable song in music only to be thwarted by musicians who didn’t want to be associated with a Republican candidate.

As it happens, there may be a certain amount of truth in that hypothesis. This time around it was John Mellencamp who thwarted McCain’s initial idea to use his song Our Country. But that’s nothing new. Republicans have had a long, tense history with musicians objecting to the use of their music for political purposes.

In 1984 Ronald Reagan seized on Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA before Springsteen ordered him to desist, presumably pointing out in the process that Reagan’s interests were probably better served by a song that didn’t savage America’s shocking treatment of Vietnam veterans. In 2000, when George W. Bush used Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down, Petty tried to sue him. Dubya promptly backed down.

But it’s just a song at the end of the day, right? For sure – and yet campaigns are won and lost on this stuff. Remember how Bill Clinton cruised into the White House on the feel-good boomer-rock of Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop? Or how D:Rream’s Things Can Only Get Better helped to propel Labour into power?

Our current political leaders might do well to start casting around for a tune that best reflects their own message. Having been slow to register that the Jam’s Eton Rifles wasn’t actually a misty-eyed tribute to his alma mater, David Cameron may need to be taken to one side and told why the song may not be an appropriate rallying call.

As a Smiths fan, Cameron may well have perused the band’s CDs in the hope that something may fit the bill for the next election campaign. While neutrals wonder What Difference Does it Make you suspect that Handsome Devil and This Charming Man may sit well with Cameron’s self-image – while Gordon Brown may steer clear of I Know It’s Over or Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.

However, ponder Brown’s current predicament and one song suits perfectly. Recorded in 1989 by Bono’s best friend Gavin Friday, He Got What He Wanted details the turmoil of someone who waited years for something only to get it and realise it wasn’t what he expected: “I was a king just for one day/ Like a fool now I know/My kingdom grew cold/I followed all my dreams and illusions. I got what I wanted.”

It won’t win him an election, but given that probably not even discovering the lost chord and resurrecting the Beatles to put it in a new song called Gordon is Great will win him the next election, it would be a poetic way to go.

As ever, a clearer understanding of what the Liberal Democrats stand for beyond proportional representation eludes the wider public. But after recently revealing the frequency of his sexual conquests prior to marrying, Lib Dem head honcho Nick “Cleggover” Clegg may want to trade on his newly heightened profile. If his claims are true, he could do much worse than record his own version of To All The Girls I’ve Ever Loved Before. If half of them are flattered enough to vote for him in the next General Election, it could be the Lib Dems’ best result for decades.

Explore Music

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010