Rocker Bruce Springsteen, who has gotten filthy rich (and deservedly so) for his gritty parables of blue-collar Americans, is defending — and endorsing — Barack Obama.
The Boss wrote in a message to fans that Obama’s comments that some small town Americans were “bitter” and so they clung to religion and guns, had been “ripped out of context.”
Wrote Springsteen on his website:
“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 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.”
Springsteen made his first foray into presidential politics by performing at events for 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry. He pulled huge crowds to hear Kerry speak in Wisconsin, Ohio and other battleground states days before Kerry’s defeat.
More here.