http://blog.getliberty.org/Archive/default.asp?Year=2009&Month=03&Page=7
“In Chicago, for instance, we’ve gotten a foretaste of the new breed of foundation-hatched black communitarian voices: one of them, a smooth Harvard lawyer with impeccable credentials and vacuous-to-repressive neoliberal politics, has won a state senate seat on a base mainly in the liberal foundation and development worlds. His fundamentally bootstrapped line was softened by a patina of rhetoric of authentic community, talk about meeting in kitchens, small-scale solutions to social problems, and the predictable elevation of process over program—the point where identity politics converges with old-fashioned middle class reform in favoring form over substance. I suspect that his ilk is the wave of the future in U.S. black politics here, as in Haiti and wherever the International Monetary Fund has sway167”
-Adolph Reed Jr. Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics (57)
I like the above quote because it reveals a lot of the facts about Obama that makes him so cunning to the public. This in mind, we can see where his political agenda lies and where it can possibly diverge. Obama has a red-ish blue tint to his reputation, which makes a shade of royal purple cover the decisions he executes in his political agendas. On pages 56-58 in Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics by Paul Street we see how he can sometimes favor otherwise Republican interest and still maintain a democratic air of solidarity through process and water tight policy. His likability is the vehicle in which he cultivates his positive public visage. Obama is the purple king of Washington political interests.
2. Painted Portrait of Profit – “The Dollar Value of a Starry-Eyed Idealist”
The clever techniques used by Barack Obama to allude how he was a ‘player’ in government were skillfully planned. Creating bi-patrician approval is a sizable task for any candidate but insuring the quality of benefit to your voters while you’re in office will almost always depend on how wealthy you can make them; directly or indirectly. Pages 23 and 24 show how Obama’s agenda to protect corporate profits by not allowing working class people to be able to file class action lawsuits again corporations, is a clear example of where his loyalty lies for the people he claims to help. The middle class American citizen is truly at a lost for with Obama’s stance on CAFA (Class Action Fairness Act).
It bothers me how censored this issue was in our media. I feel as though someone who claimed to raise the standard of living for middle-class folks in America could then turn his back on them for the financial firms that backed his campaign with their monetary contributions. Transparency about this elected candidate was clearly, or should I say, unclearly translucent and misled the majority of the voting public. Boot straps or not; we’re still walking through the mud.
3. Black Sheep or White Sheep; it doesn't matter he's still a wolf.
http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20090420-black-or-white-which-do-you-prefer-racism-test
I’m upset so much of the voting public skewed their vote based on the ‘issue’ of skin color. As the recently deceased Michael Jackson would say “I doesn’t matter if your black or white.” I can’t say that I didn’t know that this was a talking point for people during the 2008 elections but I guess I’m more surprised about how widespread the topic became. When Paul Street quotes Shaila Dewan’s interview with Townsend Pelzer (black retired maintenance worker) and he states that the reason for voting of Obama is the color of his skin, it makes you think about the working class that Obama is appealing to. They really need little convincing and that is a problem. How is it that after decades of skepticism on behalf of the African-American community towards political figures is their vote now so easily swayed? Shouldn’t it be the opposite? Shouldn’t they feel more skeptical of the Biblical wolf in sheep’s cloths?
4. Youbama - Barack's youtube Channel
During the election race, Barack Obama had a clear advantage over his opponents with his mass appeal to internet audiences. His careful attention to the nation’s youth made him a nation favorite among young voters and non-voters. Who could forget the infamous ‘Obama Girl?’ The Obama campaign hit all of the eight shifts in our 21st century media culture in some way. The biggest stretch one may argue is the cultural shift but I refute that because you’re being tallied by youtube every time you watch an Obama video. Privacy isn’t that private on the internet.
5. Three things to never talk about at the dinner table : Sports, Religion, and especially Politics.
http://whitehousemuseum.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/inside-obamas-circle/
Agendas, ideas, platforms, goals are not the number one rationale for most Americans when they make a decision about which candidate to choose. A large percentage of Americans consider candidates qualities, character, likability, honesty, and religiosity. Obama scores very high in this rationale. Constantly reminding he audience of his grassroots ties to sports teams in America and furthering his 'relateablitiy.'
This is significantly shaped by the mainstream media, who want to keep serious issues decided by their political class. “Presidential elections are mostly about keeping important issues off the table” – Alexander Cockburn
6. He's a Politician not a Celebrity!
http://stylealchemy.com/ruminations/category/swoon/page/2/
A reoccurring topic present in the book is how the media has portrayed Obama and what role the media has played in his election. Overall Obama has received very favorable media coverage, and lots of it. The media made Obama into a celebrity and shaped the way that many American citizens viewed him. It seemed as though everyone jumped on the Big Lie Band Wagon.
7. Obama's Rhetoric
http://www.zazzle.com/obama_greatness_lincoln_fdr_jfk_obama_kids_tshirt-235470203090702307
Obama has a strong voice that some people like to equate to the eloquent John F. Kennedy but his words are sometime empty and people need to be able to criticize his spoken word. I fell like once the JFK analogies came about we saw more and more lines being draw to how Obama does this like JFK and how Obama does that like JFK and then everyone just started assuming that because he has all these shoe-string similarities to an American icon, he too is one. I don’t think that the general public knows enough about JFK to really determine if his qualities were truly that relevant to Obama. I would argue that one of the only reasons why people identify or reference JFK so much is because he was young when he was assassinated. People need to understand that JFK and Lincoln weren’t good presidents because they died in office and in fact many of them did ruthless things to get there. That would be a similarity I’d like to mention.
Another issue with public discourse would be the short time candidates had to answer big questions about government policy on national TV. A major flaw in our political elections are that we don't give candidates enough time to fully unfold their agendas. Postman would agree that there needs to be a more public and open platform for discussion to truly take place. Without it we'll just have more candidates talking over each other and delivering more meaningless, concise, emotion-driving hyperbole.
8. Warning! Smoking may cause tainted Political figure!
http://obama-pictures.blogspot.com/2009/11/barack-obama-smoking.html
The public’s perceived image of Barack Obama was intended to be one of All-American quality. His family life and work life was well balanced and he had two children and a loving wife. Upon entering the White House, the Obama family was getting a small dog as an addition to the presidential dream. All of this was nonsense stirred up by the media in order to distract the general public from the real political issues at hand. People got concerned about Obama’s smoking habit and some even passed judgment on him for it but yet no greater political issue was discussed.
All of this made me think about Neil Postman’s issue with public discourse for politics in our nation. We give political figures so many opportunities to tell us what their favorite color is but we never ask them to elaborate with specific deal about their plan to withdraw troops from Iraq. I could care less about Obama wife and kids; what’s happening with my country!
9. Rapid Ascent into the upper echelons of the Political World
http://patdollard.com/2009/10/up-next-the-government-takeover-of-higher-education/
Obama carried himself through the political ranks at a very rapid pace. Some of his political successes can be attributed to the ‘lucky breaks’ he has capitalized on. Some will argue that without his fortune he wouldn’t be where he is today. His victory over Yesse Yehudah for state Senator was arguably one of his greatest victories for his road to the White House.
10.Organizing for America – Making Politics User-Friendly
The Obama campaign organizers had to have young people helping out because they knew exactly how to get this nation’s young to talk about politics; put it online. The hot button issues surrounding the 2008 election were posted online with information about each party’s agenda clearly laid out for people to interpret. The idea is great but was only coming from one side of the aisle. Now that Obama is in office he still is making sure that updates to various online media outlets are being made and people are staying ‘informed.’ Presidents should absolutely make their decisions as public as possible and I think Obama’s method is going to catch on for presidents to come.
