Read on Twitter
Didn’t watch the Super Bowl, but the Twitter reaction to the Springsteen ad had me searching this AM for the source of the furor.
I get the criticism: the chapel, the unity myth, the both-sidesism, the fact that “common ground” is really stolen ground. All fair.
But.
I get the criticism: the chapel, the unity myth, the both-sidesism, the fact that “common ground” is really stolen ground. All fair.
But.
I’d say that, in the vast, complicated, noisy mess that is American politics, what happens with the center-right right now matters quite a bit. It seems that was who that commercial was primarily aimed at: white, football-watching, moderate Republicans in the big Red states.
We’re passing through a decades-long era of hyper-individualism, which holds particular dominance in such places. Some believe we are at a pivot point, though, where we begin to return to communitarian values. The left, the center-left and the vast middle get it and value it.
The concern is what happens on the right. Since 1.6, the schisms are increasingly clear. “Conservatives” are at a crossroads: either step back from the precipice or fully embrace fascism. The ad seems to speak to moderate conservatives as a reminder of this.
Springsteen is not center-right. His politics are liberal. He never does commercials, and his appearance in the ad is telling — the working-class icon is also imploring the salt of the earth to return to the fold.
I’m reminded of Jon Meacham: “Humankind has long viewed the soul as the vital center, the core, the essence of existence. The soul is what makes us ‘us.’” In that sense — and not dismissing the criticism — the ad makes some sense to me.
