BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and the E Street Band–“The Greatest Little House Band in All the Land”–were in San Francisco this weekend, playing to a sold-out Pacific Bell Park. Too bad the Garden State’s favorite son didn’t pull a Hillary and adopt another state as his pet cause. He would have made a great 136th recall candidate. The Boss is no stranger to the political scene. In 2002, a group called Independence for New Jersey tried to recruit him to run in a U.S. Senate race. Their strategy: run the musician as a true-blue-collar outsider–a slimmer, more lyrical Jesse Ventura. (And don’t forget that the tug-of-war back in 1984, when both parties wanted to lay claim to “Born in the USA.”)

What if Springsteen had jumped into the recall fray? Like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movies and politics, The Boss’s body of work would be a study in evolution, running hot and cold, upbeat and downcast. And, like Arnold, conservatives would have decidedly mixed feelings. Springsteen’s song “Into the Fire” celebrates the rescue crews that perished on September 11. His “41 Shots” rips into the NYPD for the Amadou Diallo shooting.