Obama and the End of White Elite Politics

By Laura Carlsen, Foreign Policy in Focus. Posted November 19, 2008.

African-Americans increased their proportion of the electorate from 11 percent to 13 percent and voted 95 percent for Obama. The number of Asian-Americans eligible to vote reached 7 million and also reported high turnout. Another group denied a voice in government because of the political influence of wealth also make up part of the minority majority: the poor and the much-mentioned middle class. Over 60 percent of those whose family income is under $50,000 voted for Obama.

Toward a Transformative Presidency

The Obama campaign didn't create the new minority majority, but it did mobilize it.

Campaign strategists did not do this because of special interests. Although they offered statements and policy platforms tailored to specific sectors, the unity message trumped identity politics. Obama's message to downplay the race factor of his candidacy, while not ignoring it, carried over into the campaign's approach. A combination of the candidate's charisma, hard work in the field (especially by unions in blue-collar swing states Ohio and Pennsylvania) and the economic crisis led to this historic breakthrough. The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee ran a remarkably successful "50-state strategy," campaigning hard in states that were formerly skipped over for being either already secured or considered impossible. They also ran an inclusive campaign that refused to write off any ethnic or demographic group. From conservative Cuban Americans to Appalachian whites, Obama campaigners and allies got out there, engaged once-intransigent constituencies and made inroads. Victories in battleground states Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida demonstrate the effectiveness of the strategy.

When the economy crashed, wedge issues flew out the window. Immigration, expected to be a wedge issue of the right, never took off as expected, and with the economy, immigration became secondary even for many immigrants. The economy was first and foremost on the minds of Latinos interviewed by me, the Los Angeles Times and others, and most believed that Obama was the candidate to address these concerns.

Rosa Goodnight of Immokalee, Fla., a 40-year resident who had voted Republican all her life, said on Election Day, "I voted for Obama because we need more jobs ... [e]mployment has gone way down here, especially in construction. My kids have lost their jobs and are living on unemployment and savings. Obama has better ideas to help the economy recover and bring more jobs."

When the financial crisis reduced the issues to one -- 63 percent of voters listed economy as their No. 1 concern -- the election became a referendum on change that the candidate of change easily made a central part of his message.

The Minority Majority's Challenge

There are only two ways this affirmation of diversity and unprecedented level of citizen participation can end up not making a difference in the future course of the nation. One, if President Obama shuts out his grass-roots supporters and governs as an autocrat, or two, if the populace -- awakened by the drama of the elections and the referendum on change -- considers its role over and returns to the semi-hibernation that characterizes representative democracy between elections.

There are signs that neither of these will happen. U.S. society changed during the campaign, and the economic crisis won't allow most people the luxury of going back to sleep. With a nation in crisis requiring bold policy moves, Obama knows he will need a mobilized grass-roots base. Moreover, the campaign staff and volunteers throughout the nation have learned community organizing skills and discovered vocations as organizers that many say changed their outlook on politics and their lives.

For example, in Wisconsin, local Obama teams have created a network to continue pushing the issues and agendas that led them to support Obama's presidency. Progressive blogs like Daily Kos and The Field are spearheading an effort to continue the movement.

Uniting Domestic and Foreign Policy

Some analysts write that Obama's ability to create a transformative presidency depends on the depth of the crisis, as though the cracks must widen in the system for something new to break through. This view is based on the classic transformative presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Interestingly, history has again become relevant and widely discussed -- highly unusual in the nation Gore Vidal dubbed "The United States of Amnesia."

See more stories tagged with: race, racism, obama, u.s., election 2008

Laura Carlsen directs the Americas Program of the International Relations Center (IRC), based in Mexico City, Mexico, online at AmericasPolicy.org.

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