Washington, May 23 (ANI): Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and now presumptive Republican nominee, has called his affinity for sci-fi a "guilty pleasure" and openly admitted to diving into titles that run the gamut from 'Battlefield Earth' to 'Star Wars'.
Poring over the reading lists of presidents - and White House aspirants - is routine for the political press.
The book picks of candidates and incumbents offer a rare look at the personal tastes of politicians that tend to make them more personable along with things like their food choices and the song selections on their Ipods.
Reporters often ascribe, fairly or not, a certain gravitas to a candidate depending on how long, and serious, their reading list.
For Romney, seen by some as a polished and wooden candidate who hesitates to show his personal side, his sci-fi picks offer a rare look at the 65-year-old politician, unscripted.
And for the Mormon candidate, some of those choices - such as Scientologist L. Ron Hubbard's 'Battlefield Earth', which he cited in the 2008 campaign - have sparked controversy.
"Usually that kind of thing doesn't come out until after the election," the Politico quoted Scott Tipton, a Los Angeles-based Star Trek comic book writer, as saying.
"We didn't find out what a geek Obama was until he got into office. It's a weird thing because there's like a dual-edged sword to fandom. They don't want to be associated too strongly. But at the same time, if they do have that affinity for it, they can try to talk about it," Tipton said.
Judging a politician's "geek cred" is hard, Tipton - who is currently working on a 'Star Trek/Dr. Who' crossover comic - said.
"Obama threw the Vulcan hand sign at the White House Correspondent's Dinner a few years ago.
"He knows enough. He knows what he's talking about. The most connection I've seen from Romney lately has been the Internet meme going around where he has this big grin on this face and kind of looks like Gul Dukat from Deep Space Nine.
"He totally had the Gul Dukat smile!" he said.
Lately, Romney's choices have been more on trend. In March, Romney told CNN's Wolf Blitzer he's read the hit novel 'The Hunger Games', the dystopian book by Suzanne Collins in which teenagers are forced to hunt and kill each other in an annual competition.
The GOP standard-bearer took his grandchildren on a weekend outing to see the film by the same name, which has sparked a mania among young adult fans similar to the fervour surrounding the Harry Potter books and movies. (ANI)
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