Springsteen sings, while Obama orates, “A new day is dawning, sunshine is on its way!”

By Arooj Ashraf, La Prensa Correspondent

Nov. 2, 2008: Sunshine is on the way, wrapped in a blanket of change, promised Democratic nominee Barack Hussein Obama, as he made his last stop in Ohio, energizing voters in the three major cities of Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland.

At the latter venue, many brought their infants and toddlers to experience history in the making with the premium view of the crowd from their parents’ shoulders. A group of local war veterans also lined the front row to support the Illinois senator.

Rock singer Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen warmed the Cleveland crowd by singing: The Promised Land, Youngstown, Thunder Road, Working on a Dream, This Land is Your Land, and The Rising. And telling the estimated 80,000 gathered at its downtown Mall A, B, C that’s he is supporting Obama for his policies on the economy and healthcare.

Springsteen debuted a new song at the rally entitled, “Working on a Dream,” which he dedicated to Obama. According to the Springsteen fan Website Backstreets, “The song has been recorded for the follow-up to Magic, which Springsteen has been working on this fall, an album expected to be released around the time of the Presidential Inauguration in January 2009.”
 

Springsteen said his songs mirror the U.S.-American dream and reality, but in the last eight years he has seen the distance between reality and the dream increase dramatically.

Obama follows
“At this defining moment in history all of you can give this country the change we need and it starts right here in Ohio, starts right here in Cleveland,” Obama told his supporters, after being introduced by Springsteen.
 

Obama had told the audience 21 months ago when he began his campaign—which was ignored by the pundits—he realized the road ahead was tough but he was convinced the U.S.-American people were hungry for change and together their voices were louder and more powerful than the most entranced lobbyist and the most vicious political attacks.

But change will not be a product of government Obama said—it needs to begin with each person. He told his supporters they will have to make sacrifices and make changes in their lives for the betterment of their community and country.
 

Obama told the audience that all of Ohio’s lost jobs will not return but instead of doing nothing—like rival John McCain—he intends on investing $15 billion in renewable energies, creating wind turbines, solar panels which will create secure, well-paying jobs that can not be outsourced. “We should be creating renewable energy cars right here in Ohio, not in North Korea or Japan,” he said.

He mocked the Republican fear campaigns against his economic plan and use of an Ohio plumber earning more than $250,000 a year to scare individuals, saying that is how they protect the fat cats, lobbyists, and major corporations like Halliburton.

Obama said his plan would tax anyone making more than a quarter of a million dollars—“Let’s see a show of hands, how many of you here make less than a quarter of a million dollars a year?” He said 95 percent of the people who work everyday will receive a tax break, adding 98 percent of small business makes less than $250,000 a year.
 

Obama said: “We need to build the economy from bottom up, not out of charity, but because that’s when everyone does better.”

Obama talked about healthcare, taking care of veterans, providing soldiers proper training and the best military equipment to keep them safe. He applauded McCain’s military service, and said he deserves credit for the rare occasion where he diverged from the Bush administration, like opposition to torture.

Obama labeled McCain as Washington’s biggest cheerleader for the Iraq War and other failed Bush/Cheney policies, saying he earned Cheney’s endorsement by voting with them 90 percent of the time. “He hasn’t been a maverick, he has been a sidekick!”

“After 21 months and three debates, John McCain can not tell you what he will do differently than Bush,” Obama said, adding his opponent has spent most of campaign money and energy attacking him.

Obama said he is tired of the divisive, negative politics of Washington and the people of the United States need to step up to create the change they crave.—“All of us white, black, Asian, and Hispanics have a role to play, we need to work together, play together …I know change is possible because I have seen it,” said Obama.

“We been through an eight-year storm but a new day is dawning, sunshine is on its way,” he said as a steady rain pelted down in Cleveland. He said for the last week he has been feeling good about his campaign because the crowds are growing, everyone has a smile on their face, and, most of all, he gets to campaign with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia, age 10, and Sasha, age 7.