The Obama Effect: Multidisciplinary Renderings of the 2008 Campaign

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
List of Figures......Page 10
Preface......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 16
Race and Gender: Plus ça Change?......Page 18
Political Participation and Identity in the "Age of Obama "Changing the Game?......Page 19
An Obama-nation, or an Abomination?......Page 20
Section I: Rhetoric......Page 22
White Males Lose Presidency for First Time: Exposing the Power of Whiteness through Obama’s Victory......Page 24
The Ideological Primacy of the American Dream Myth in Obama’s Victory......Page 26
Rethinking the Telling of History and Racial Progress......Page 30
Obama as the Impetus for Unmasking the Power of Whiteness......Page 33
Hermeneutical Rhetoric and Progressive Change: Barack Obama’s American Exceptionalism......Page 37
American Exceptionalism......Page 38
American Exceptionalism and Presidential Rhetoric......Page 39
Hermeneutical Rhetoric......Page 42
Barack Obama’s American Exceptionalism......Page 44
Implications......Page 50
Ghosts and Gaps: A Rhetorical Examination of Temporality and Spatial Metaphors in Barack Obama’s "A More Perfect Union"......Page 52
Theor etical Framework......Page 53
McPhail and Fletcher Respond to "A More Perfect Union"......Page 55
The Function of Temporality in "A Moe Perfect Union"......Page 57
Gaps and Chasms: The Role of Spatial Metaphors......Page 62
Conclusion......Page 65
Section II: New Media......Page 68
Media Politics 2.0: An Obama Effect......Page 70
Theory......Page 72
Strategy , Tools, and Tactics......Page 76
Media Politics 2.0—The Obama Campaign Strategy......Page 77
BarackObama.com......Page 78
On-Ground Campaigning—Building the Database......Page 80
Camp Obama......Page 81
Social Media......Page 83
Conclusion......Page 84
The Webbed Message: Re-Visioning the American Dream......Page 86
The Movement......Page 89
Y es, I Am Black, And …......Page 90
Agency......Page 91
Analysis......Page 92
Conclusion......Page 94
The Resonant Message......Page 96
The Powerful Media......Page 98
Method......Page 99
Results......Page 100
Discussion......Page 109
Introduction......Page 110
Asian-ness as Polycultural Agency: "La Bamba Obama"......Page 114
Asian-ness as Political Agency and Cultural Representation: Captioned Media for Obama......Page 116
Asian-ness as Political Agency and Cultural Representation: United for Obama......Page 117
Conclusion......Page 120
Section III: Identities......Page 122
Post-Soul President: Dreams from My Fatherand the Post-Soul Aesthetic......Page 124
"Let Us Not Falter Befoe Our Complexity": Barack Obama and th Legacy of Ralph Ellison......Page 137
Ralph Ellison and "The Blackness of Blackness"......Page 138
Geography......Page 141
Genealogy......Page 144
Civil Religion......Page 147
Speaking for Whom?......Page 150
The Obama Effect on American Discourse about Racial Identity: Dreams from My Father (and Mother), Barack Obama’s Search for Self......Page 152
Refusing to Be a "Tragic Mulatto"......Page 154
Rethinking America’ s One-Drop Rule......Page 156
Becoming a Black Man......Page 158
Rejecting a Biracial Identity......Page 161
Listening to His White Mother Within......Page 162
Searching for a Black Community......Page 164
Moving beyond Tribalism/ Nationalism/ Afrocentrism......Page 167
Locating his African Father......Page 170
Embracing the Fullness of His Identity......Page 171
Our First Unisex President? Obama, Critical Race Theory, and Masculinities Studies......Page 174
Theories of Identities......Page 178
Analyzing Obama’ s Femininity......Page 184
Section IV: Publics......Page 194
Oprah and Obama: Theorizing Celebrity Endorsement in U.S. Politics......Page 196
Theorizing Celebrity Endorsement: Social Comparison Theory and Celebrity Politics......Page 198
The Functions of Celebrity Endorsement: Oprah’s Endorsement of Barack Obama......Page 204
Concluding Thoughts on Theorizing Celebrity Endorsement......Page 209
The Obama Mass: Barack Obama, Image, and Fear of the Crowd......Page 211
Obama and the Kennedy Family......Page 212
The Obama Affect......Page 215
The Implicit Form of Barack Obama......Page 217
The Kennedy Shadow, Obama and American Left Melancholy......Page 224
Kennedy and Obama: Melancholy, Mourning, and Beyond......Page 225
Conclusion: "We’re Still Here; We’re Just Watching Along with You."......Page 227
Mothers Out to Change U.S. Politics: Obama Mamas Involved and Engaged......Page 230
Mothers Deciding to Support Barack Obama for President......Page 233
Involving Self and Family in Supporting Barack Obama for President......Page 235
Mothers’ Concer ns and Hopes in the Barack Obama Presidency......Page 236
Conclusion......Page 239
Section V: Representations......Page 240
For the Love of Obama: Race, Nation, and the Politics of Relation......Page 242
Genealogy as Point of Entry......Page 245
"The Violent, Leftist Weather Underground": Reviving Black Nationalism......Page 247
"He's Not American Like the Rest of Us": Deterritorializing Obama......Page 250
Conclusion......Page 252
Black W omen Stereotypes......Page 254
Coverage of First Ladies......Page 256
Media Framing......Page 257
Just Another Prospective First Lady......Page 260
The New Millennium Jackie O.......Page 262
The Michelle Obama Factor......Page 264
A New Paradigm?......Page 269
The Feminist (?) Hero versus the Black Messiah: Contesting Gender and Race in the 2008 Democratic Primary......Page 271
Divided Sisterhood......Page 272
Again Invisible: Women of Color and the Oppression Sweepstakes......Page 274
A Black President: A Uniquely American Achievement......Page 277
Say What? Sexism?......Page 280
Dog-Whistle Racism and Black Anger......Page 281
The Obama Crush......Page 283
Epilogue......Page 287
List of Contributors......Page 291
Index......Page 296
Back Cover......Page 302