Even presidential candidate Barack Obama has taken notice of the Grand Theft Auto IV mania that is sweeping the nation. At a recent campaign stop in Indiana, Obama said:

I was just catching the news this morning about Grand Theft Auto, this video game, which is gonna break all records and make goo-gobs of money for whoever designed it. Now, this isn’t intended for kids, although I promise you there are kids who are playing it, but these video games are raising our kids…

Across the board, middle-class, upper-class, working-class kids, they’re spending a huge amount of their time not on their studies, but on entertainment.

And so part of our job is going to have to be to inspire the entire country to say, ‘How are we giving our kids a thirst for knowledge?’ And turning off the TV set, and getting them to be engaged and interested, like their future really does matter on how well they do in school.”

We're not sure what goo-gobs are, but we're happy that Obama is continuing his sensible tact on videogames--note there's no condemnation of the game or games in general. Obama is right: GTA IV is for adults, although we don't feel gaming and a "thirst for knowledge" are mutually exclusive.

GamePolitics: Barack Obama Mentions GTA IV During Campaign Appearance