Abstract

Springsteen for Change

The article comments on the 2004 presidential election in the United States. A culture war's going on. The 2004 election does not merely pit red states against blue states; it places the cultural community against the Bush establishment. Look at the political conventions. The Democrats had a host of big-name musicians and actors: Glenn Close, Ben Affleck, Willie Nelson, Black Eyed Peas, Wyclef Jean, Patti LaBelle.The Republicans had Ron Silver, a Christian rock band named Third Day, the usual country singers and a bunch of lesser-knowns. It's not news that the liberals of Hollywood and the music biz favor Ds over Rs, but this year more seem willing to hurl themselves into the partisan mosh pit. Most noticeably, Bruce Springsteen. He has long championed progressive causes but has shied away from electoral politics. On October 1, he and twenty other artists--including R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Ben Harper, Kenny" Babyface" Edmonds and the Dixie Chicks--kicked off the Vote for Change tour, a series of thirty-three gigs in eleven swing states, designed to aid the de-Bush crusade. Before that evening's concert in Philadelphia--which featured Springsteen, R.E.M., Bright Eyes and John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival--Michael Stipe, R.E.M.'s frontman, noted that many in the media have dismissed the tour as singing to the converted. The tour is more about organizing than persuading. The money raised by the shows -- the artists will forgo payment -- goes to America Coming Together, a Democratic-minded 527 that's registering, identifying and mobilizing likely Kerry voters in swing states. And the names and addresses of the 280,000 ticket buyers end up in a database for MoveOn PAC, which intends to contact these people in an effort to recruit new MoveOn members and enlist volunteer workers for the election.