Bruce Springsteen told the Sunday Times that Donald Trump has no equal among Democrats — and the rock star doesn’t mean it as a compliment. Well, not completely. Springsteen, who campaigned for Barack Obama and John Kerry, thinks the current POTUS has big moral deficiencies. Nevertheless, Springsteen says he doesn’t see “the man who can beat Trump, or the woman who can beat Trump” in 2020 — because the Democrats don’t have anyone who can really talk to the people who voted for Trump. The Dems, in Springsteen’s opinion, lack that voice. And Springsteen should know: he counts a lot of Trump voters among his biggest fans.
“You need someone who can speak some of the same language,” Springsteen says, while also saying he dislikes much of Trump’s language. That’s a tough position — between the proverbial rock and hard place. A winner will have to talk to Trump’s people the way Trump does, but somehow not also convey all the racially inflammatory triggers that undergird Trump’s rhetoric. Is it possible?
Well, Springsteen himself has done it. Indeed, Springsteen the troubadour is often portrayed as the ultimate “man of the people” for understanding and the stories of everyday people. Interestingly, “Man of the People” is a title that Trump also, despite his alleged billionaire status and Fifth Avenue address, wears among his loyalists. Trump may be rich, the thinking goes, but he’s still an outsider. And he talks like regular people. Springsteen fears the Democrats can’t offer up anyone who talks that way, even if Bernie Sanders also sounds like a regular guy to the core.
