The Boss Endorses Obama

Earlier today I heard that Bruce Springsteen officially endorsed Barack Obama, and my initial reaction was, "that's awesome." I love Bruce Springsteen, and I want Obama to be President, so naturally I was pleased. But then I started thinking: does it really matter? Does the Boss really have the power to sway voters with his endorsement? Maybe, maybe not. But I think there are a number of arguments for why this is important.

First of all, Bruce Springsteen's music embodies working class heroism. He's always celebrated the blue-collar, working class American, so I imagine his opinions may go a long way in that demographic. However, he has never been much of a political songwriter. He may have political overtones in some songs, but nothing close to Dylan, U2, or Green Day, who all wrote more specifically and had more of an agenda with their political music. The point here is that nobody looks to him for political advice.

In a more "big picture" way, though, I think this is important. One, while he's just one more of the many on the list of Obama endorsers, the difference is everybody knows his name. He's iconic, so it really doesn't matter what his politics are, because a lot of people are going to notice this endorsement, which is good for the overall campaign.

Just some random thoughts. Anyway, here's the official announcement text from Springsteen's website:

Dear Friends and Fans:

LIke most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."

At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams From My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.

After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans.

Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President.

Bruce Springsteen

Check out the site and announcement here.

Before I finish this post, I just want to say that the debate tonight on NBC was pretty awful. Although I though both Barack and Hillary looked good in it, I was very dissatisfied with ABC's job of hosting it and both moderator's jobs. Some of those questions were pretty awful, and I'm not sure if they got to a real issue within the first hour. Maybe hour and a half.