Obama and The Boss in Cleveland: The Swamp
The Swamp
Chicago Tribune
Posted November 2, 2008 6:56 PM
The Swamp

springsteen and obama in cleveland small.jpg
Sen. Barack Obama smiles at Bruce Springsteen at a rally at the Cleveland Mall in Ohio Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

by John McCormick

CLEVELAND - As his campaign pulled out all the stops to turn out voters between now and Tuesday, a confident and upbeat Barack Obama was joined by rock legend Bruce Springsteen - and some rain -- for an evening rally Sunday.

"Sunshine is on the way," the Democratic nominee metaphorically promised as the showers started. "We've just got two more days of these clouds."

With a few guitar strums as his background, Springsteen spoke a roughly five-minute soliloquy of endorsement for the Illinois senator before starting into his "The Rising," the song that opens most of Obama's campaign events.

"I travel around the world. I occasionally play to big stadiums, crowds like this, just like Senator Obama does," Springsteen said. "I continue to find out that wherever I go, America remains a repository for people's hopes, their desires. It remains a house of dreams."

The Boss said he believes Obama is uniquely qualified to put the nation back on the right track.

"Sen. Obama, help us rebuild our house, big enough for the dreams of all of our citizens," he said. "I want my country back. I want my dream back. I want my America back."

A crowd Obama's campaign said totaled 80,000 listened from the Cleveland Mall. Some 60,000 others had come out earlier on a glorious fall afternoon to see him outside the Ohio Statehouse.

A transcript of most of Springsteen's comments about Obama are below.

"I believe that he understands in his heart, the cost of that distance in blood and in suffering in the lives of everyday Americans. I believe as president, he'll work to bring that promise back to life and into the lives of so many of our fellow Americans who justifiably lost faith in its meaning. Now in my job, I travel around the world, I occasionally play to big stadiums, crowds like this, just like Senator Obama does. And I continue to find out that wherever I go, America remains a repository for people's hopes, their desires. It remains a house of dreams. And 1,000 George Bush's and 1,000 Dick Cheney's will never be able to tear that house down. That's something that only we can do and we're not going to let that happen. This administration will be leaving office. That's the good news. The bad news is they're going to be dumping in our laps the national tragedies of Katrina, Iraq and our financial crisis. Our house of dreams has been abused, it's been looted and it's been left in a terrible state of disrepair. It needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power, for influence, for a quick buck. It needs strong arms, strong hearts, strong minds. It needs someone with Senator Obama's understanding, his temperateness, his deliberativeness, his maturity, his pragmatism, his toughness and his faith. But most of all, it needs us. It needs you, it needs me. And he's going to need us. All that nation has that keeps it from coming apart is the social contract between us, between its citizens. Whatever grace God has decided to impart to us, it resides in our connection with one another, in honoring the life and the hopes and the dreams of the man or the woman up the street or across town. That's where we make our small claim upon heaven....Tonight and today, we are at the crossroads. We are at the crossroads. And it's been a long, long, long time coming. I'm honored to be here on the same stage as Senator Obama. From the beginning, there's been something in Senator Obama that's called upon our better angels and I suspect it's because he's had a life where he's had to so often call up on his better angels. And we're going to need all the angels we can get in the hard road ahead. So Senator Obama help us rebuild our house, big enough for the dreams for all our citizens, because how well we accomplish this task will tell us just what it does mean to be an American in the new century, what the stakes are and what it means to leave in a free society. I don't know about you, but I know I want my country back. I want my dream back. I want my America back. Now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves and come on up for the rising."

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Comments

Mr. Obama,
Your attempt to gain the Presidency of the United States by hypnotizing Americans has failed.
You shall not pass! You have been stopped, because you nether deserve the Presidency, nor
does America deserve your fraud and deception. It is quite clear that, after Americans find out
who you really are, including your use of hypnosis, you will never have even a remote chance at
the Presidency again. You have been stopped because your deception has been found out. You
were a master of influence, able to influence millions. You were impervious to scrutiny that could
easily eliminate any other candidate. However, exposing your use of hypnosis is what shatters all
of your other deceptions. You have been stopped by one anonymous patriot with a pure heart
who is able to see you for who you really are. There are those more powerful than you, Obama,
looking out for truth, justice, and the American way. As the words of my favorite song go,
“Sinnerman, where you gonna run to?”


Bruce - I love your music. Leave it to that and play your music. You are an entertainer, enternain us. Don't opine. We don't care what you think.


I feel that Springsteen's music has always represented my vision of America far better than the Boo-Yah [A]mericas gonna kick some ass! jingoistic battle anthems that the right has come to favor. It is ironic that his songs champion the kind of "real" Americans that the GOP claims to represent, but they do so without the taint of anger and belligerence that seem to be the only appeal the Grand Old Party’s candidates can muster today.


Oh, 56lady56lady! finally, a kindred spirit who has seen through this evil man! i too believe the only explanation for people wanting a well educated, articulate, confident, thoughtful black man for president is hypnosis!! you must call Fox News right away!

P.S. I'd like to thank the editors of The Swamp for carefully screening comments "for relevance of topic", how else could our important message have been posted!


The paranoia contained in the posting by 56lady, her belief that Obama has used hypnosis to hoodwink her fellow citizens, pays an indirect compliment to Obama: He has appealed to something deep, strong, and passionate it us, something deeper and truer than mere logic. She has to resort to demonizing to comprehend Obama's power. But, his power is our yearning as a country to fulfill our ideals. Be brave, Obama! Be brave America!


56lady56lady...What on earth are you talking about? Obama is where he is simply because people are sick and tired of Bush and McCain is an old man following in Bush's footsteps! It took me a long time to make up my mind, but weirdos like you certainly helped.


McCain has Hank Williams, Jr. We'll take Bruce. And 56Lady, go preach elsewhere.


This is truly scary. It is the Dumbing Down of America at its finest. How can we come to this point where these two creeps are the best we have to choose from. Hobama is a man without a soul who has a life that is a complete fabrication. I pity him, but I'm not stupid enough to vote for him.


Bruce is a great singer and a great american, looking more and more like he can play in January, when USA swears Obama In!


Hey, 56lady56lady...Keep playing the "politics of fear" card...McCain supporters grasping for straws now!

OBAMA/BIDEN 08


OBAMA/BIDEN 2008!


We LOVED the event. Bruce was amazing and inspiring and of course our candidate rocked the mall. It was a wonderful, historic event. I am so grateful for the feeling of hope I have again.


Ha--56lady56lady, crazy much? Let's wait until Tuesday night to find out if he's been stopped.


The fruitcakes are out tonight. I love the smell of desperation.....it reminds me of victory.


What's with McCaniac rants here? Blah, Blah, Blah. Go hang out with your friends at rushlimbaugh.com. Obviously lots a people do care what Bruce has to say. Whether you or I don't is our own business.


Apparently Bob, the Boss doesn't care what you think, either.


Wow, this election is bringing out the neurosis in many of you, and the psychosis is others. 56lady, you need to take your meds!

A man without a soul? Are you God, Stop Lying? Your comment bothers me more than 56lady's delusional rant. It is so calculated and cold.

What is everyone so scared of with regards to our choice(s) for president?

Ask yourself that question. Really think about your fear and where it comes from. Where you that nervous when Al Gore was at the brink of winning (or won), were you fearful of Kerry?

What is making this election so highly energized as to make people start speaking in tongues or whatever that was.


Kool-Aid drunkards are already celebrating a win that will never happen.

We'll see you here on these boards Wednesday & we'll find out who is right...unless you happen to find yourself as a victim in the huge riot in Chicago when Obama concedes.

As for Springsteen; career that bad & you're wanting some attention? Sure. Just have a cup of Kool-Aid & join the Marxist bandwagon. "Born in the USSA" anyone?

http://oldbluewebdesigns.com/USSA.htm

McCain/Palin 2008!!!


Say Hey!! Intelligence will trump experience anytime, anyplace! Obama will be sworn in as our 44th president in 79 days. whiteagle38


"the Dumbing Down of America" was when people voted for Bush twice! WE'VE HAD ENOUGH! I'm tired of cynical people. That's why Obama will win. I was at the Cleveland rally and I could listen to Bruce and Obama all night. They are both inspiring.


Just because Bruce Springsteen is an entertainer does not preclude him from making political comments. What are you thinking about when you say he has no right to do so.
56 Lady you should work for the candidate of your choice and not try to belittle others.
Take a look at most of the music that Bruce has done over the years and it is mostly concerned with social injustice and also our culture.


The same folks that encouraged us to vote for and still support George W. Bush are telling us to vote for John McCain.

Sorry, but as GW says, "Fool me once, ah.. shame on you... ah.... fool me... ah... you can't fool me again."


Obama for the working man? How about his promise to bankcrupt the coal industry?

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/shocking-new-audio-obama-promises-to.html


On Bob Edwards yesterday he interviewed James Taylor who has done many rallies for Obama but has never met him (at the time of the interview). The reason he says he is doing the rallies is that he truly hears hope in Obama's words akin to what he heard in the 60's from the Kennedys and MLK.


I see the rabid are trying once again to use an issue, at the last ditch moment, that has been out there for months. Hoping to mislead Americans. They put out sound bites to make their point. Read the "whole" transcript to understand what really was said.
Here’s the entirety of Obama’s remarks:

“I voted against the Clear Skies Bill. In fact, I was the deciding vote -- despite the fact that I’m a coal state and that half my state thought that I had thoroughly betrayed them. Because I think clean air is critical and global warming is critical.

“But this notion of no coal, I think, is an illusion. Because the fact of the matter is, is that right now we are getting a lot of our energy from coal. And China is building a coal-powered plant once a week. So what we have to do then is figure out how can we use coal without emitting greenhouse gases and carbon. And how can we sequester that carbon and capture it. If we can’t, then we’re gonna still be working on alternatives.

“But ... let me sort of describe my overall policy. What I’ve said is that we would put a cap and trade policy in place that is as aggressive if not more aggressive than anyone out there. I was the first call for 100 percent auction on the cap and trade system. Which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases that was emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants are being built, they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted-down caps that are imposed every year.

“So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted. That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel, and other alternative energy approaches. The only thing that I’ve said with respect to coal -- I haven’t been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as an ideological matter, as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it, that I think is the right approach. The same with respect to nuclear. Right now, we don’t know how to store nuclear waste wisely and we don’t know how to deal with some of the safety issues that remain. And so it’s wildly expensive to pursue nuclear energy. But I tell you what, if we could figure out how to store it safely, then I think most of us would say that might be a pretty good deal.

“The point is, if we set rigorous standards for the allowable emissions, then we can allow the market to determine and technology and entrepreneurs to pursue, what the best approach is to take, as opposed to us saying at the outset, here are the winners that we’re picking and maybe we pick wrong and maybe we pick right.”

l


Musicians have that right-brain thing that prevents them from having any truly perceptive political analysis ability that anyone else really needs to be too concerned about one way or the other. In any class on government or political science, they would surely be doodling, studying their shoe laces, or looking out of the window with the rest of the dis-contents. I know these folk.


What did surprise me though, was the mean-spiritedness of the anti-Bush comments that he had to share with his fellow Obama-ade drinkers, yesterday. It succeeded on a Level of Nasty, that I would not have thought likely.


Today, 12 - 15 Springsteen CDs, 5 Springsteen DVDs are homeless, and he has one less fan in a place that he always said was special to him. This is some brutally ugly stuff.


We drove from Pennsylvania to our hometown of Cleveland yesterday to see two legendary heroes inspire a crowd. We were not disappointed. I don't understand why Bruce fans don't get Obama. Don't they see the connection to the better days ahead? I sincerely hope we are not being deceived, I feel like the dream is finally coming true for this country.


No Nancy, don't see the connection. Absolutely Don't See It. Just don't live that surreal kind of existence to see these sort of things. And if McCain and Springsteen were somehow aligned and saying the same Fairly Land stuff, guess what ~ still don't see it. Absolutely Don't See It.


What I do see is Indecision Paralysis, High Taxes, No Energy, No Security, Environmentalism to the Extreme, Judicial Decisions designed to steal Liberty and Property. Makes anything that Springsteen would say in song seem trivial.


Django ~ X-Springsteen Fan


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