Barack Obama and the Future of American PoliticsMany Americans believe Barak Obama represents a hopeful future for America. But does he also reflect the American politics of the past? This book offers the broadest and best-informed understanding on the meaning of the "Obama phenomenon" to date. Paul Street was on the ground throughout the Iowa campaign, and his stories of the rising Obama phenomenon are poignant. Yet the author's background in American political history allows him to explore the deeper meanings of Obama's remarkable political career. He looks at Obama in relation to contemporary issues of class, race, war, and empire. He considers Obama in the context of our nation's political history, with comparisons to FDR, JFK, Bill Clinton, and other leaders. Street finds that the Obama persona, crafted by campaign consultants and filtered through dominant media trends, masks the "change" candidate's adherence to long-prevailing power structures and party doctrines. He shows how American political culture has produced misperceptions by the electorate of Obama's positions and values. Obama is no magical exception to the narrow-spectrum electoral system and ideological culture that have done so much to define and limit the American political tradition. Yet the author suggests key ways in which Obama potentially advances democratic transformation. Street makes recommendations on how citizens can productively respond to and act upon Obama's influence and the broader historical and social forces that have produced his celebrity and relevance. He also lays out a real agenda for change for the new presidential administration, one that addresses the recent failures of democratic politics. |
Contents
The Other Hidden Primary | |
How Black Is Obama? Color Class Generation and the Perverse Racial | |
How Antiwar? Obama Iraq and the Audacity of Empire | |
Sixteen Reasons | |
Citizens Politicians Change and the Obama | |
Phenomenon | |
Acknowledgments | |
Appendix | |
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activists African American Alexander Cockburn American politics antiwar April Audacity of Hope Barack Obama Bill Clinton Bush centrist Chicago Tribune citizens civil rights claim conservative corporate coverage critical democracy Democratic Party Democratic presidential Derber dominant economic election electoral elite Empire Exelon February global Hillary Clinton Howard Zinn Ibid ideological Illinois imperial inequality invasion Iowa Iraq Iraq War Iraqis issues John Edwards Kerry liberal lobbyists majority March Martin Luther King Matt Gonzalez McCain military moral movement neoliberal Noam Chomsky noted numerous Obama campaign Obama phenomenon Obama presidency Paul Street percent of Americans political culture politicians poll populist position poverty presidential campaign presidential candidate Press progressive race racism Reagan reflections Report Republican rhetoric social speech U.S. foreign policy U.S. political U.S. Senate United vote voters Washington White House working-class York Z Magazine ZNet ZNet Magazine