Hillary Clinton is aggressively chasing the youth vote that helped propel Barack Obama past her into the White House. As part of that effort, the Clinton campaign revealed a Spotify playlist of the 14 songs they would like Americans to believe Clinton is listening to on the campaign trail.
One problem: no one appears to be buying it.
"It’s really kind of lame what she put up as a campaign playlist," Alan Light, journalist and music critic for Rolling Stone magazine, said.
Alex Wagner added that she was "less than impressed" with Clinton’s playlist and the gimmick felt "poll tested."
The playlist includes Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Sara Bareilles, Jennifer Lopez, and Ariana Grande. The list is chock full of emotionally inspiring lyrics with titles the campaign would like voters to associate with Clinton such as "Believe," "The Fighter," "Roar," "Happy," and "Brave."
"It doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t feel like anything Hillary Clinton actually listens to," Light said.
None of the songs picked by the 67-year-old candidate were released before 1999; meaning Clinton ignored every song to come out before she turned 49 or the first three-quarters of her life.
"All this shows me is that ‘I like things that are popular and I don’t want to like anything that would remind you that I’m old,’" Light said of Clinton’s motivation behind her song selections.
The full list of Clinton’s Spotify playlist is below:
1. American Authors – "Believe"
2. Gym Class Heroes – "The Fighter (ft. Ryan Tedder)"
3. Katy Perry – "Roar"
4. Ariana Grande – "Break Free (ft. Zedd)"
5. Kelly Clarkson – "What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)"
6. American Authors – "Best Day of My Life"
7. Pharrell Williams – "Happy"
8. Jennifer Lopez – "Let’s Get Loud"
9. NONONO – "Pumpin’ Blood"
10. John Legend & The Roots – "Wake Up Everybody (ft. Common and Melanie Fiona)"
11. Sara Bareilles – "Brave"
12. Kris Allen – "Fighters"
13. Jon Bon Jovi – "Beautiful Day"
14. Marc Anthony – "Vivir Mi Vida"