Springsteen backs Barack Obama

Bruce Springsteen is endorsing Barack Obama for president by posting a message on his Web site.

Springsteen said "I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest"

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Legendary rock star Bruce Springsteen has endorsed U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for president with a message posted on his Web site.

Springsteen said in his posting that Obama "speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years," The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

"I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest," The Boss wrote. He said Obama is the best candidate to "lead us into the 21st century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans."

The campaign of Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., responded to the endorsement with a statement from the latest organization of blue-collar workers -- a demographic commonly seen at Springsteen concerts -- to throw its support behind Clinton.

"We need a leader with Hillary Clinton's ability to turn around the economy and rebuild the middle class," Pat Finley, president of the Operative Plasterers' and Cement Masons' International Association, said in the statement. "She has a clear record fighting for working families, and is the strongest candidate to go toe-to-toe with John McCain in November."

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