This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Columbus, Ohio • Someone has to introduce the president.
On Monday, the final day of the presidential campaign, President Barack Obama, however, didn't bring along an opening act. He brought along two main acts.
Bruce Springsteen. Jay-Z. Theirs wasn't an introduction, it was pop culture moment.
The Boss was spending the entire day with Obama, traveling on Air Force One from Madison, Wis., to Columbus, Ohio, and then to Des Moines, Iowa, where Obama planned a coda for his campaign, a finale where his run for the presidency began five years ago.
Jay-Z boomed his way into Columbus's Nationwide Arena, performing a rendition of his hit "99 Problems" with a political twist for a crowd estimated by fire officials at more than 15,000 people. He changed a key R-rated word to make his own political endorsement. "I got 99 problems but Mitt ain't one," he sang.
"They tell the story of what our country is," Obama said of the two performers, "but also of what it should be and what it can be."
Springsteen has a custom made campaign song named after the Obama motto "Forward" — "Not the best I've ever written."
"How many things rhyme with Obama?" he asked.