CLARKSTON, Ga. — On Thursday evening, as the sun was setting behind the pine trees at a high school football stadium in Clarkston, Georgia, Bruce Springsteen took the stage with an acoustic guitar. He played “The Promised Land,” his late-’70s song of a young working man chasing a brighter future. Then he addressed the crowd.

“I am here today to support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president of the United States,” he said. “I want a president who reveres the Constitution, who does not threaten, but wants to protect and guide our great democracy.”

Springsteen season is upon us — that earnest, quadrennial appeal to American voters and the better angels of their nature, from the timeworn apostle of the dispossessed, the muse of frustrated patriotism. Springsteen is a rare artist who can pack stadiums with bipartisan fans, but every four years, he is also a reliable motivator for the Democratic Party base.

The 23,000 people at the Georgia rally, however, might not have been Springsteen’s base. Held just outside Atlanta, the event drew young Black families, influencers and students. Springsteen’s typical audiences tend to be older and whiter. Other speakers were filmmakers Spike Lee and Tyler Perry, and actor Samuel L. Jackson. The main draw, aside from the vice president herself, was indubitably former President Barack Obama (a fan and friend of Springsteen’s).

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Springsteen Endorses Harris

Springsteen, his voice gravelly, told the polite but somewhat fidgety crowd that he wanted a president “who believes in the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power, who will fight for a woman’s right to choose, who wants to create a middle-class economy that will serve all of our citizens.”

The crowd cheered as Springsteen praised Harris — even though he mispronounced her name, twice, before correcting himself.

“Donald Trump is running to be an American tyrant,” he said. “He does not understand this country, its history or what it means to be deeply American.”

Springsteen’s appearance was part of a star-powered closing argument for Harris. Beyoncé is scheduled to perform Friday in Houston. Eminem introduced Obama at an event on behalf of Harris this week in Detroit. James Taylor played at a rally Thursday.

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It is hard to say if these events, intended to speak to the party faithful, actually motivate people to go to the polls. There is also the question of whether Springsteen speaks to the cohort of voters who are vital to Harris’ success. Yes, she is seeking to draw white suburban women and centrists, but she also is struggling to shore up support from young voters and Black men.

On Thursday, Perry, Lee and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., spoke more directly to those groups. Perry described being awestruck by the glittery image of Trump, in his youth, before he did his research. “In Trump’s America, there is no dream that looks like me,” he said.

The impact of these shows of cultural force are often considered in hindsight. The outcome of the race may determine whether they are triumphant summations or acts of desperation.

At a rally for Trump in Las Vegas on Thursday night, some of his supporters dismissed the star power of Harris’ closing weeks as just the latest sign of an elitist club of out-of-touch artists trying to puff up a flagging candidate.

“I have no respect for celebrities,” said CJ Campagna, 77, a real estate agent who lives in Las Vegas. “I think they’re overly self-important, and I don’t care what they say or do because I don’t pay any attention to them.”

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In this nail-biter of a race, hand-wringing Democrats might recall that Springsteen performed in 2004 for John Kerry — whose campaign song was Springsteen’s anthemic “No Surrender” — and in 2016 for Hillary Clinton, both of whom lost.

But Springsteen also played for President Joe Biden in 2020 and, of course, Obama in 2008 and 2012. Presidential campaigns come and go, but The Boss is a constant — an older working man, now quite wealthy, in search of a brighter future.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Rebecca Davis O’Brien/David Walter Banks
c. 2024 The New York Times Company