VH1 News Presents: 'Politics: A Pop Culture History'

VH1 News Presents: 'Politics: A Pop Culture History'Pop culture has always reflected and commented on America's political mood, ranging from "Rambo" to "West Wing" and from Bruce Springsteen's working-man anthems to Toby Keith's songs of a nation ready to go to war. But this election year has firmly established that politics has become pop culture and vice versa.

Using 30 years of music, movie and television, along with new interviews, "Politics: A Pop Culture History" premieres Wednesday, October 20 at 10PM* and explores how filmmakers, rappers and rockers have intersected, intertwined, clashed and collaborated with politicians over the years. Examples are abundant in today's media landscape. Political commentators from Bill O'Reilly to Al Franken are treated like pop stars. Political fundraisers look more like star-studded movie premieres. John Kerry talks about the social energy in rap music while Republicans reach out to the youth vote with a voter-registration truck parked outside MTV's studio.

"Politics: A Pop Culture History" will track the modern marriage of politics and pop culture from the first televised presidential debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon up through the effect of this summer's blockbuster film "Fahrenheit 9/11" on public perception as well as Bruce Springsteen's Vote for Change swing-state tour. The documentary also shadows actor Stephen Baldwin at the Republican National Convention and follows Everclear's Art Alexakis, rock star and elected delegate, to the Democrat National Convention.