- A group of top US musicians, including Bruce Springsteen
and REM, have begun a two-week concert tour to persuade voters to oust
President George Bush.
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- Stars will perform in 36 cities in nine electoral swing
states, culminating in an 11 October concert in Washington DC.
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- The Vote for Change tour will include performances by
The Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.
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- Springsteen told Rolling Stone magazine that Bush had
been "fundamentally dishonest" in launching war on Iraq.
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- Crucial states
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- "It made me angry... I felt we had been misled,"
the 55-year-old musician said.
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- "I felt they had been fundamentally dishonest and
had frightened and manipulated the American people into war."
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- The tour will include crucial Midwestern swing states
such as Ohio and Michigan where President Bush is running neck-and-neck
with Democratic candidate John Kerry, before visiting the equally critical
Florida on 8 October.
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- Proceeds from Vote for Change concerts will be donated
to America Coming Together (ACT), a group which aims to motivate voters
into defeating Bush in the 2 November election.
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- Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, who faced strong
criticism after telling a London audience that she was ashamed to share
her home state of Texas with Bush, said it was time for change.
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- "There's never been a political climate like this,
which is so the polar opposite of me as a person and what I believe in,"
she said.
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- © BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3696532.stm
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