Now that I’m back in the saddle at the Gospel Soundcheck blog, I’m keeping me eyes and ears open for stories that relate to Christian music. Or Christians and music.

And one of the stories that caught my eye this week was about former Minnesota governor and GOP presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty and a comment he made at an Iowa fundraiser about Lady Gaga.

Speaking to some reporters from the Glitterazzi blog, Pawlenty mused about his love of country music and all time favorite Bruce Springsteen, but introduced Lady Gaga into the discussion when he asked the reporters which was their favorite song. Pawlenty complimented Lady Gaga on her talent, referring to the HBO special “Born This Way”.

“If you go to the end of the HBO special, the Lady Gaga HBO special, and you watch her sing acappella ‘Born This Way,’ she can sing,” Pawlenty says. “She can definitely sing. She’s talented.” Weird, he says, but talented.

The story merited a quick note in most major mainstream news outlets, but over at the Christian Post they delved a bit deeper into the issue, since the paper reports that in June members of the National Association of Evangelicals voted Pawlenty “its preferred Republican presidential candidate in an open-ended survey.”

Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md. and board member of the National Association of Evangelicals, said in the Christian Post story that Pawlenty’s remark was a “rookie mistake”, one some think may alienate him from his Christian supporters:

“Being tolerant of different politics may be a great way to win a general election,” the story goes on, “but it is a bad way to woo conservatives in a primary focused on finding a candidate that has completely different political views than Democrat President Barack Obama.”

If you watch the video, it seems as if Pawlenty is simply using the chance to show the three young, hip reporters how hip he is, too. It was an innocent little chat probably meant to help Pawlenty connect with younger voters. But should it really be used to decide his politics?

If you’re a Christian, let’s hear from you: does a candidate’s musical preferences play into your decision to vote?