LOS ANGELES -- John McCain is backing an African-American for president -- on television at least.

McCain told Entertainment Weekly magazine his favorite fictional portrayal of a US President is David Palmer, the first elected black president who is played by Dennis Haysbert on the hit television show "24."

"He's fabulous. He's a guy who makes tough decisions, he takes charge, he's ready to sacrifice his interest on behalf of the interest of the country," McCain told Entertainment Weekly in an article for its latest issue that spotlights the pop-culture influences of McCain and rival Barack Obama.

Republican hopeful McCain however added that there was no significance in the ethnicity of his choice.

"You know, I hope that I and all Americans can be color-blind about any president," he said.

McCain's Democratic rival Obama meanwhile says his preferred fictional US leader was played by Jeff Bridges in the 2000 movie "The Contender."

"That was a great movie president," Obama said. "He was charming and essentially an honorable person, but there was a rogue about him. The way he would order sandwiches -- he was good at that."

Meanwhile both Obama and McCain said they identified strongly with flawed Gotham City crime-fighter Batman when asked which superhero they would adopt. "(Batman) does justice sometimes against insurmountable odds," McCain said. ?And he doesn?t make his good works known to a lot of people, so a lot of people think he?s just a rich playboy."

Obama echoed McCain's view, also expressing an admiration for Marvel Comics web slinger Spider-Man.

"Spider-Man and Batman, they have some inner turmoil. They get knocked around a little bit," Obama said.

McCain meanwhile revealed that the last movie he had seen was the latest installment of the Indiana Jones adventures, featuring a 66-year-old Harrison Ford as the swashbuckling archeologist.

"I enjoyed that so much," McCain said. "The old guy wins."