Source:
https://variety.com/2024/music...sylvania-1236186317/
Bruce Springsteen to Appear at Kamala Harris Rallies in Battleground States of Georgia and Pennsylvania
By Jem Aswad
Bruce Springsteen will appear alongside former President Barack Obama and at rallies for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania on Thursday and Monday, respectively, according to Rolling Stone.
The events, to be held in Atlanta and Philadelphia, will launch a series of “When We Vote We Win” shows in the seven major swing states during the final days of the campaign; the news arrived at the same time Eminem’s appearance at a rally in Michigan tonight was announced. Events are also expected in Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina, and Nevada.
Harris will appear at the event in Georgia but not Pennsylvania, according to the report.
Earlier this month, Springsteen officially endorsed Harris in a video recorded at a diner in his home town of Freehold, New Jersey. “Perhaps not since the Civil War has this great country felt as politically, spiritually, and emotionally divided as it does at this moment,” Springsteen said. “It doesn’t have to be this way. [Kamala Harris and Tim Walz] are committed to a vision of this country that respects and includes everyone, regardless of class, religion, race, your political point of view or sexual identity, and they want to grow the economy in a way that benefits all, not just a few like me. On top, that’s the vision of America I’ve been consistently writing about for 55 years.”
While Springsteen avoided explicit political campaigning earlier in his career — even as then-President Ronald Reagan misconstrued and attempted to co-opt the singer’s 1984 hit, “Born in the U.S.A.,” which is actually about disillusionment with patriotism — he has come out in support of every Democratic candidate of the last dozen years, including Obama in 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, and he performed at the Lincoln Memorial on the evening of Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
However, Springsteen didn’t come out in support of Clinton until very late in the campaign. Asked by Variety in 2017 about his timing, he replied, “I don’t think I’m necessarily that essential a factor. And I still tend to be a little bit ambivalent about getting involved directly like that in political campaigns. I’ve done it when I felt it was really necessary and that maybe my two cents might make some small bit of difference. But the more you do it, your two cents becomes one cent and then no cents whatsoever, so I think your credibility and your impact lessens the more you do it. So I’ve been hesitant to overplay my hand in that area, and I generally come to service when I feel it’s kind of necessary and it might help a little bit.
“I thought [Clinton] would have made an excellent president, and I still feel that way,” he added.
However, as the excesses of the Trump administration grew worse, Springsteen spoke out more forcefully against him, particularly at his long residency on Broadway in the late 2010s.