kerry english“I’ve spent 35 years writing about America, its people and the meaning of the American promise.
That’s the promise that was handed down to us right here in this city from our founding fathers
with one instruction. And that was do your best to make these things real,” Bruce Springsteen
said in Philadelphia on Saturday,
Oct. 4.
Springsteen played an acoustic set for a crowd of 50,000 Barack Obama supporters on the Ben Franklin Parkway.
Everyone from political heads to local Philadelphians were in attendance anxious to hear the Freehold, NJ, legend play and show their support for Obama.
Philadelphia-born singer song-writer Nora Whittaker opened the show with rapper Kuf. Following
Whittaker was Amos Lee, another fellow Philadelphian who is well known throughout the area and has opened for music legends before such as Bob Dylan.
Sen. Bob Casey and Gov. Ed Rendell took the stage together prior to Springsteen’s set to voice their opinions and do their part to rally the crowd.
“Here in Pennsylvania, here in the great city of Philadelphia we have to do our job. If we do our job, Barack will be the next president.
Joe Biden will be the next vice president if we do our work here,” Casey said.
“We are here today to help elect Barack Obama as the 44 president of the United States of America,” Rendell said.
He then went on to say, “Even when I was for Hillary Clinton, I was proud of Barack Obama, proud of what he’s accomplished, proud of how smart he is, proud of how much poise and grace he shows under fire, proud of who he’s been and who he’s going to be in the future for all of us.”
After being introduced by an Obama volunteer, Springsteen took the stage with nothing more than his acoustic guitar and harmonica.
“It’s great to be here in my home away from home, Philly,” Springsteen yelled to the crowd.
Springsteen had everyone dancing and cheering, especially the people closest to the stage who had received special passes as a thank you from the Obama campaign for volunteering their time and effort to help make Obama the next president.
Debbie Thompson, 38, a yoga instructor, explained why she decided to come out today and joked, “Do you have enough paper
there?”
“The wars for one,” Thompson
said, “but I could go on.” And she did, concluding with a final thought about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said. “Palin’s just plain stupid.”
“I support Obama and I like Bruce Springsteen. I think he’s a guy who can rally the people and I agree with more of his beliefs,” Justin Fox, 19, a full time student said.
“It is time for Democrats to be in the White House. Almost every decision made in the last eight years was a bad one,” Collene
VanNoord, 47, an assistant superintendent said.
