Ypsilanti? Yes, Ypsilanti. Bruce Springsteen in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It's possible that only Barack Obama could make that possible.
"Hello, Ypsilanti!" Springsteen shouted to the audience of around 11,000. "Glad to be here! I don't know how to spell it, though."
Even so, the rock legend seemed very comfortable in this odd-named town that's an eclectic blend of college students from Eastern Michigan University and blue collar workers. In many ways Ypsilanti is much like the towns Springsteen sings about in his songs; heavily impacted over the years by plant closings and the eternal ups and downs of the automotive industry.
And yet, on a crisp fall day, Ypsilanti seemed full of hope and enthusiasm.
Bruce Springsteen's "Change Rock" tour landed in Michigan on the last day of the state's voter registration for the 2008 election. Although the event was billed as the final voter registration drive in the area, it's likely that many of the attendees arrived already registered. As is the case all around the country, here in Ypsilanti, Obama supporters are enthusiastic and chomping at the bit to cast their vote in this historic election.
The crowd was warmed up by local artists Dick Siegel, Kitty Donahoe. and David Mosher. Then local politicians spoke to the audience, including Representative John Dingell (D-Michigan, the longest serving member of the House) and his wife, Debbie as well as Ypsilanti Campaign for Change Field Organizers, Robert Johnson and Shira Levine. Springsteen then played a 50-minute acoustic set in front of a diverse group of Obama supporters. Near the end he paused to deliver what has become something of a stump speech for him. He started by acknowledging that things are looking good in Michigan.
"I know the polls and the Republicans said that they've abandoned their attempt to take Michigan. But I wouldn't be so sure about it," he warned with a laugh. "Anyways, it's certainly not a time to take anything for granted. Please make sure you get all your friends and your family out to vote on election day."
He ended with another warning coupled with a push to rise to the challenge:
"I believe that because our opponents haven't been able to win on the merits of their arguments, I think what you're gonna see over the next month is an attack on Senator Obama's character that'll probably make the Swiftboaters look fair and balanced. And you're going to see the politics of distraction and resentment being played to the full and I know one thing:
That they will fail.
'Cause I don't know about you but I know that I want my dream back, I want my America back. And I want my country back. So now's the time to stand up for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and let's come on up to the rising."
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Transcript of comments by Bruce Springsteen, October 6, 2008 - Campus of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan
Thank you very much. Hello Michigan. Thanks for coming out today and being part of the registration drive. I know the polls and the Republicans said that they've abandoned their attempt to take Michigan. But I wouldn't be so sure about it!
Anyways, it's certainly not a time to take anything for granted. Please make sure you get all your friends and your family out to vote on election day.
I'm glad to be here today for Senator Obama. The next president of the United States. That's right! Seems lined up already, I'm tellin' ya! But I don't wanna jinx the whole thing...
But I've spent 35 years writing about America and its people and the meaning of the American Promise and that's the Promise that was handed down to us by the Founding Fathers with one instruction and that was 'do your best to make these things real'. And that's opportunity and equality and social/economic justice, a fair shake for all of American citizens, and the American Idea as a positive influence around the world for a more just and peaceful existence.
Now these are the things that have given my life hope and our lives hope and shape and meaning . They're the ties that bind us together and that give us faith in our contract with one another. And I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between the American Promise and American Reality. And now today's question here in Michigan and for many Americans is why they're losing their jobs and their homes, they're seeing the retirement funds disappear, or they have no healthcare, or they've been abandoned in our inner cities. The distance between that American Promise and Reality has never been greater or more painful.
Now I believe that Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in his own life and in his work. And I believe that he understands in his heart the cost of that distance in blood and in suffering in the lives of everyday Americans. And I believe that as president he'll work to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have justifiably lost their faith in its meaning.
After the disastrous administration of the past eight years we need someone to lead us in a great American reclamation project.
In my job I travel around the world and I occasionally play big stadiums, just like Senator Obama, and I've continued to find that wherever I go, in the midst of the past eight years, America still remains a repository of people's hopes, of their possibilities, of their desires. And despite the terrible erosion of our standing around the world, we remain for many, many folks still a House of Dreams. And one thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that House down.
But they will, however, be leaving all of us! That's the good news. The bad news is that they'll be leaving all of us dropping three national tragedies - Katrina, Iraq and our financial crisis - in our laps. And our sacred House of Dreams has been abused, it's been looted, and it's been left in a terrible state of disrepair. Right now it needs care, it needs saving and it needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power or for a quick buck.
It needs strong arms. It needs strong hearts. It needs strong minds. It needs somebody with Senator Obama's understanding, his temperance, his deliberateness, his maturity, compassion, toughness and faith to help us rebuild that House once again.
But more important than anything else, it needs YOU and it needs ME and it needs us to build that House with a greater generosity that I always felt was at the heart of the American Spirit. It's a BIG PLACE! And it should be big enough to contain the hopes and the dreams of all of our fellow citizens. That's where our future lies and we're gonna rise or we're gonna fall as a people by our ability and our strength to accomplish that task.
So we're headin' in to the last month of the election. I believe that because our opponents haven't been able to win on the merits of their arguments, I think what you're gonna see over the next month is an attack on Senator Obama's character that'll probably make the Swiftboaters look fair and balanced. And you're going to see the politics of distraction and resentment being played to the full and I know one thing:
That they will fail.
'Cause I don't know about you but I know that I want my dream back. I want my America back. And I want my country back. So now's the time to stand up for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and let's come on up to the rising.