Do Democratic primary voters in Pennsylvania or Indiana care about the political endorsements of celebrities — even working-class icons like Bruce Springsteen? I wonder. Springsteen will probably stage a bunch of concerts- slash-Obama rallies in the fall. He did this for Kerry in ’04, of course, and look what happened. Maybe he has a certain influence. Not with the serious Pennsylvania dumbasses (i.e., the racist flannel-shirt rubes in the “Alabama” sections of the state) but maybe with the 50-something middle-classers who bought his records and cassettes in the ’70s and ’80s.

“At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships,” Springsteen said on his website. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man’s life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams From My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.”