Bruce Springsteen Is Bringing the Cavalry
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Society
/ February 20, 2026
Bruce Springsteen Is Bringing the Cavalry
The Boss’s most political tour yet will go from Minneapolis to Washington.
John Nichols
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Bruce Springsteen announcing his Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour on February 17, 2026.
(YouTube)
Almost a quarter of a century ago, in the second year of George W. Bush’s miserable presidency, a campaign was launched to draft Bruce Springsteen as a candidate for one of New Jersey’s US Senate seats. Polls showed that Springsteen would be a viable contender, and volunteers were ready to circulate the petitions, put his name on the ballot and send the Boss to Washington.
But the musician thwarted the drive, announcing, “If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.”
That ended the 2002 bid to draw the Boss into electoral politics. But Springsteen did not relegate himself to the political sidelines. He’s since been one of the highest-profile advocates for Democratic presidential candidates, from John Kerry to Barack Obama to Kamala Harris. And Springsteen’s songs in recent decades have maintained his career-long commitment to address the fundamental issues of our times, with impassioned lyrics about everything from the failed response to Hurricane Katrina (“We Take Care of Our Own”) to the economic pain that extends from after deindustrialization (“Death to My Hometown”).
Donald Trump’s second presidential term has made Springsteen more outspoken than ever—and given his interventions a new urgency. He has often emerged as a more clear-eyed and impactful critic of the president’s dangerous abuses of power than the Democratic Party leaders who are supposed to be running an opposition party.
Now the rocker is hitting the road for the Land of Hopes and Dreams American Tour, which is likely to be the most politically charged show of his 50-plus-year career.
Even if Springsteen was saying nothing about the purpose of the tour he will launch on March 31, the schedule sends an explicit message. The tour kicks off in Minneapolis, where a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed poet and mother Renee Good before Customs and Border Protection agents gunned down intensive care nurse Alex Pretti. (Springsteen responded in January to the deadly violence of ICE’s surge into Minnesota with the bestselling song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” which is all but certain to feature in his shows.) The tour’s next stops will be in Portland and Los Angeles, two other communities that have been targeted by surges of armed and masked agents from Secretary Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security.
Current Issue
March 2026 Issue …
Every delay has consequences.
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Bruce Springsteen Is Bringing the Cavalry
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Current Issue
Society
/ February 20, 2026
Bruce Springsteen Is Bringing the Cavalry
The Boss’s most political tour yet will go from Minneapolis to Washington.
John Nichols
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Bruce Springsteen announcing his Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour on February 17, 2026.
(YouTube)
Almost a quarter of a century ago, in the second year of George W. Bush’s miserable presidency, a campaign was launched to draft Bruce Springsteen as a candidate for one of New Jersey’s US Senate seats. Polls showed that Springsteen would be a viable contender, and volunteers were ready to circulate the petitions, put his name on the ballot and send the Boss to Washington.
But the musician thwarted the drive, announcing, “If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.”
That ended the 2002 bid to draw the Boss into electoral politics. But Springsteen did not relegate himself to the political sidelines. He’s since been one of the highest-profile advocates for Democratic presidential candidates, from John Kerry to Barack Obama to Kamala Harris. And Springsteen’s songs in recent decades have maintained his career-long commitment to address the fundamental issues of our times, with impassioned lyrics about everything from the failed response to Hurricane Katrina (“We Take Care of Our Own”) to the economic pain that extends from after deindustrialization (“Death to My Hometown”).
Donald Trump’s second presidential term has made Springsteen more outspoken than ever—and given his interventions a new urgency. He has often emerged as a more clear-eyed and impactful critic of the president’s dangerous abuses of power than the Democratic Party leaders who are supposed to be running an opposition party.
Now the rocker is hitting the road for the Land of Hopes and Dreams American Tour, which is likely to be the most politically charged show of his 50-plus-year career.
Even if Springsteen was saying nothing about the purpose of the tour he will launch on March 31, the schedule sends an explicit message. The tour kicks off in Minneapolis, where a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed poet and mother Renee Good before Customs and Border Protection agents gunned down intensive care nurse Alex Pretti. (Springsteen responded in January to the deadly violence of ICE’s surge into Minnesota with the bestselling song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” which is all but certain to feature in his shows.) The tour’s next stops will be in Portland and Los Angeles, two other communities that have been targeted by surges of armed and masked agents from Secretary Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security.
Current Issue
March 2026 Issue …
Bruce Springsteen Is Bringing the Cavalry
Every delay has consequences.
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Bruce Springsteen Is Bringing the Cavalry
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Magazine
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Politics
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Current Issue
Society
/ February 20, 2026
Bruce Springsteen Is Bringing the Cavalry
The Boss’s most political tour yet will go from Minneapolis to Washington.
John Nichols
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Bruce Springsteen announcing his Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour on February 17, 2026.
(YouTube)
Almost a quarter of a century ago, in the second year of George W. Bush’s miserable presidency, a campaign was launched to draft Bruce Springsteen as a candidate for one of New Jersey’s US Senate seats. Polls showed that Springsteen would be a viable contender, and volunteers were ready to circulate the petitions, put his name on the ballot and send the Boss to Washington.
But the musician thwarted the drive, announcing, “If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.”
That ended the 2002 bid to draw the Boss into electoral politics. But Springsteen did not relegate himself to the political sidelines. He’s since been one of the highest-profile advocates for Democratic presidential candidates, from John Kerry to Barack Obama to Kamala Harris. And Springsteen’s songs in recent decades have maintained his career-long commitment to address the fundamental issues of our times, with impassioned lyrics about everything from the failed response to Hurricane Katrina (“We Take Care of Our Own”) to the economic pain that extends from after deindustrialization (“Death to My Hometown”).
Donald Trump’s second presidential term has made Springsteen more outspoken than ever—and given his interventions a new urgency. He has often emerged as a more clear-eyed and impactful critic of the president’s dangerous abuses of power than the Democratic Party leaders who are supposed to be running an opposition party.
Now the rocker is hitting the road for the Land of Hopes and Dreams American Tour, which is likely to be the most politically charged show of his 50-plus-year career.
Even if Springsteen was saying nothing about the purpose of the tour he will launch on March 31, the schedule sends an explicit message. The tour kicks off in Minneapolis, where a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed poet and mother Renee Good before Customs and Border Protection agents gunned down intensive care nurse Alex Pretti. (Springsteen responded in January to the deadly violence of ICE’s surge into Minnesota with the bestselling song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” which is all but certain to feature in his shows.) The tour’s next stops will be in Portland and Los Angeles, two other communities that have been targeted by surges of armed and masked agents from Secretary Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security.
Current Issue
March 2026 Issue …
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