Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 05, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a11 Winnipeg repress. Com race for the White House Winnipeg free press sunday october 5, 2008 a 11 Philadelphia Bruce Springsteen called the Bush presidency a disaster and said Many americans have justifiably lost Faith in the american dream. The legendary Rocker interrupted a Evensong acoustic set at a voter registration rally in Philadelphia to Praise Democrat Barack Obama and bemoan the crises facing the next president. Springsteen said that America remains a House of dreams for some but that too Many people have Given up on the Promise of fairness and Equality. He said he has spent 35 years writing about America and its people and the meaning of the american Promise. The rally planned by the Obama Campaign a week ago Drew tens of thousands of people to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Springsteen approached the Campaign and asked to help. The Philadelphia event came just Days before mondays voter registration deadline in Pennsylvania. The Boss also plans to perform at Obama gatherings in Ohio on sunday and Michigan on monday. On oct. 16, he will join Billy Joel at an Obama fundraiser in new York City. Springsteen cited the Iraq War the recent economic turmoil and Hurricane katrina As examples of the Bush administrations failures. He boo ended the set with his Rock classic promised land and Woody Guthries Folk Anthem this land is my land. The associated press the Boss stumps for Obama w Asilla Alaska to people in this hardscrabble Region tucked Between two soaring Mountain ranges gov. Sarah Palin is a working class heroine. As the Republican Vic presidential candidates Star rises nationally Sheds increasingly held up As the Model for life in the last Frontier. Palin and her husband Todd a Champion snowmobiler racer have All the trappings of that life a coveted permit to fish Salmon Rich Bristol Bay a vast gun collection a Vintage float plane and a Fleet of Gas powered vehicles to Roar through the wilderness. Everyone Hunts and fishes Here but its just that few people look so Good doing it As Todd and Sarah said David Parks 27, a Republican who has known Sarah Palin since he was a child and is volunteering for her Campaign. What attracts people is they have the plane the Snow machines and the whole lifestyle. Others though object to the governors readiness to equate her conservative values with the alaskan Way of life. Sarahs got All the toys to be marketed As the Alaska wilderness woman but the reality is that Sheds been in that upper crust for a while said John Gourley who with his wife Jennifer raised three children in a Generator powered Cabin near Wasilla. Gourley said he a snot voted for a presidential candidate since Liberal senator Eugene Mccarthy but now plans to vote for Democrat Barack Obama. Even before Mccain chose Palin As his running mate she had appeared in magazines such As Vogue where Sheds shot in a Long wrap striding on the Tundra and in local brochures aimed at new arrivals to Wasilla. First dude Todd Palin is also a local celebrity having won four medals in the Iron dog a gruelling 55 hour snowmobile race that follows the 3,200 Kilometre id Tarod Trail from Wasilla to Fairbanks. The family is seasonal working arrangement common to Many Rural alaskans has earned them a relatively affluent life in the sprawling Matakuska Sistna Region 65 Kilometres North of Anchorage where Many roads Are still dirt and some houses Lack indoor plumbing. A huge part of Sarah palings Appeal is that people see her As an Ordinary person said Dianne Woodruff the Lone nonpartisan member of a Asillas Republican dominated City Council. Truthfully though Sheds been a very fortunate Ordinary person. Considering estimates of the value of their property and investments the palins appear to be Worth at least us 1.2 million. As governor Palin draws a $ 125,000 annual salary. Todd palings self employment in 2007 brought him $ 66,893 in Gross receipts from fishing and Snow machine racing though tax returns released Friday show an Overall net income of Only $ 5,874 after deductions. In the past two decades the palins have owned 43 vehicles including at least 17 snowmobiles. In 2000, the most recent year for which information is available the average alaskan household did not have even one snowmobile according to the division of motor vehicles and the u. S. Census Bureau. Local democrats caution that just because Sarah Palin can Butcher a Moose does not mean Sheds prepared to be vice president. But this is Alaska. Palin bagged her first Bunny when she was 10, and after she was nominated for vice president her family proudly circulated a photograph of Palin posing Over a Caribou she had shot. The associated press Ordinary Palin leads privileged life Hunting fishing private air plane by Garance Burke truthfully Sheds been a very fortunate Ordinary person Jacqueline Larma / the associated press Bruce Springsteen performs in support of democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. See Norman Rockwell b6 / pumped for Palin b9 handout / the associated press this undated photo shows Alaska gov. Sarah Palin and one of her daughters with a Caribou she shot. A 11_ oct 05 08. Ind a11 10/ 4/ 08 8 48 00 pm ;