OPINION:
In 2008, rocker Bruce Springsteen campaigned for Barack Obama and lectured his audience that Mr. Obama was “head and shoulders” above any other candidate. This time around, as Mr. Springsteen was playing a recent trifecta of concerts at the new Meadowlands football stadium in New Jersey, “the Boss” was conspicuously silent about his presidential preference during this election cycle.
What struck me as even odder about this was that the president was in New York City the same week, schmoozing with the likes of former drug dealer Jay-Z and pop star Beyonce at a $40,000-per-plate fundraiser. Yet he completely blew off the opening of Mr. Springsteen’s show the next night. How does someone who purports himself to be “a big fan” of Mr. Springsteen (as Mr. Obama did in 2008) not go out of his way to pay homage to one of his biggest supporters — particularly one from a contrasting demographic from which he could use all the help he could get?
As always, there are a lot of sidebar stories in an election year. This apparent cooling off of the political love affair between Mr. Springsteen and the president is one of them.
In the opening line of Mr. Springsteen’s new album, he sings, “I’ve been knocking on the door that holds the throne.” The big question is what happened behind the scenes to curb Mr. Springsteen’s enthusiasm or change his mind about the president? Didn’t Mr. Obama answer the door when the rocker came knocking?
Currently, various polls show this election in a statistical tie. The question is could Bruce Springsteen’s silence prove to be a variable factor in the outcome of this election?
EUGENE R. DUNN
Medford, N.Y.
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