Barack Obama and the New America - Essay Example

? Lecturer: Review and critical analysis of four articles in Larry Sabato editor “Barack Obama and the new America; the election and the changing face of politics” The book “Barack Obama and the new America; the 2012 election and the changing face of politics,” is a piece of work edited by Larry Sabato. Larry Joseph Sabato was born on August 7, 1952. He is an American political analyst and political scientist. He is the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and founder Sabato’s Crystall Ball, an internet based newsletter and website that offers free analysis of political events and electoral projections. He is the author of more than twenty books that touch on American elections and politics. In this book, he brought together an anthology of about 13 essays touching on the 2012 presidential elections. The assembled essays are very compelling and most are reinforced with very useful data. In order to comprehensively analyze the highly competitive and hard-fought 2012 elections Larry needed pulled together election experts drawn from across the political spectrum to highlight every facet of the 2012 election. With contribution from other authors, they provided insight that goes beyond the headlines, and later dives into the underlying forces and drifts that swayed the election from its initial developments to its dramatic conclusion. These contributing writers include the following: Professor James Campbell of SUNY-Buffalo; Professor Diana Owen of Georgetown University; Professor Susan MacManus of the University of South Florida; Professor Alan Abramowitz of Emory University; Jamelle Bouie of American Prospect; Nate Cohn of The New Republic; Rhodes Cook, formerly of Congressional Quarterly; Political writers and commentators Kyle Kondik and Geoff Skelley of the University of Virginia Center for Politics respectively; Karen E. Trainer of Wiley Rein LLP; Robert Costa of National Review; and Sean Trende of Real Clear Politics; and lastly, Michael Toner, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission. They provide the first of this election, how it happened, how the voting patterns were, and why the electorate made their choices as they did. After Larry’s introductory analysis, the aforementioned contributors offer an in-depth and comprehensive review of everything that was in play before, during, and after the 2012 elections. In the book “Barack Obama and the new America; the 2012 election and the changing face of politics” the contributors incorporate the controversial roles that unparalleled quantities of cash and media played in deciding on who would be the occupants of the Oval office together with the pivotal seats in the Congress. They also highlight the process of nomination, the futures of the Republican and Democratic parties, and how the latest demographic and geographic electoral assignments would influence the politics of America after 2012. America’s evolving electorate by Nate Cohn As cited by Sabato (122-126) contributors Robert Costa of National Review, publisher of Congressional Quarterly, and a former chairman of the Federal Elections Commission, and Nate Cohn of the New Republic, provide an in-depth analysis on a broad array of topics ranging from patterns of voting to the press coverage to the effects of outside funding. According to the article America’s evolving electorate by Nate Cohn, the reelection of President Obama was documented to the third consecutive reelection of head of state, following Presidents Bush and Clinton-during the periods of terrorist attacks, war, sharp political divisions, and great financial turmoil. This has not occurred since the White House Tenures of Thomas Jefferson, James Munroe, and James Madison between 1801 and 1825. Since the US is recognized as the world’s superpower, voters recognized that it would face challenges regardless of who is in power. They also understand that presidents can not prevent bad things from happening, but are mainly held accountable on how they handle their tests and trials (Sabato, p.119-124). According to Sabato that explains the reelection of President Obama irrespective of the difficult economic times. By looking further than the headlines of political reporting on what many people may see as a very long and drawn-out presidential contest, political scholar Cohn provides a wider and deeper analysis by on how the American electorate has evolved as the election results are more than the gender, race, religion and personal background. Cohn provides an overview of the election process itself, mainly focusing on Obama’s break with various points of conventional wisdom, for example, the high rate of unemployment and low ratings of favorability amongst the white voters would reduce his chances of winning (126-128). The voters may have elected Obama due to the fact they judged his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney wanting in critical respects. “Are we in the Electoral Realignment” by Sean Trende Although most of the chapters address the different aspects of the presidential election, for example the nomination process, the duty of the media, and the campaign finance laws, there are chapters that deal with electoral realignment. This article is guided by invaluable data, relies on strongly on the exit poll data in order to analyze the electorate, although it is far from a numbers book. However, beyond incumbency, the 2012 political climate suggested a very close election. The parties were at per and the electorate was a bit polarized. Through Obama’s time the economy was weak, with the joblessness rate at 8 %. The nation was also grappled with economic recession. In spite of all these statistics as noted by Sabato (177-181) from 1900-2008 out of the 19 incumbent presidents seeking reelection 14 won and they were only five loses namely: Roosevelt, Ford, Truman, Coolidge, and Johnson. Therefore, Obama’s incumbency played a very crucial factor in getting back to White House as the electorate had the understanding that he had inherited a lot mess and four years was a short time to correct the mess. Similar to the incumbents in the congress, the president can also raise far more than do their challengers giving them a huge advantage. Therefore, there is a consensus amongst the political analysts that money is a very crucial factor winning elections. Those candidates that often spend heavily in their campaigns usually have an upper hand to their challengers. Such races cost millions of dollars. The author goes ahead and discusses the Republican’s Romney missteps such as misreading the midterm elections and proceeding to move toughly to the Right. Running for reelection is considered as a grueling process of distant travel, convincing the electorate, and fund raising. That is why in relation to the congressional elections; there is a proposal to amend and restructure the primaries in order to avoid a ‘frontloaded calendar’ way before the elections to deter a ‘race by states to the front of the primary pack,’ which diverts the national interests. “Voters on the sidelines: Old and new media in the 2012 election” by Diana Owen To be reelected in either the Congress or the president one must advertise heavily on media. Unfortunately, this often needs the so-called negative publicity advertising which is viewed by the political operatives as necessary. In that sense, in the American politics, anything that can be considered old can be made new again, these comprises of themes and attacks that are advertised by the campaign candidates. As cited by Sabato (105-112) some of the notable presidential adverts of the past few cycles were typically just replicas of the old advertisements. For example, Hillary Clinton’s most well-known advert in her 2008 Democratic campaign in the primaries up against Barack Obama featured the ‘3 am’ phone call. This only emphasized her experience in the American politics. Thereafter, 24 years earlier, Walter Mondale utilized the same advert in the presidential campaign. It featured a phone, in his primary contest in opposition to Gary Hart. Mondale said that he will be a president who would be well informed to know what he is doing, thus the distinct difference between him and Gary Hart. Furthermore, George Bush ran a strong ad against John Kerry that featured wolves gathering in a forest. This was a symbol of threats posed by terrorists in the first post-September 11 presidential elections. This advert is similar to Ronald Reagan’s commercial during his 1984 campaign, in which it bore the symbol of the Soviet Union threatening an armed American hunter. Both advertisements have the same look and feel, and besides, they were both run by Republican presidential candidates who were attempting to make the Democratic opponents to look weaker (114-118). Critics most of the times point out that attack advertisements that smear on the reputation of an opponent or make unfounded accusations without discussing issues as being not popular with general public. On the other hand, according to Sabato there is a consensus that negative advertising is effective considering the fact that the messages tend to stick. Such attacks are prevalent in the presidential and congressional elections today. Obama’s campaign strategy came up with an ad that focused on his energy policy. The spot which was titled ‘Remember’ portrayed President Obama being committed to coming up with strategies that would enable domestic oil production and leveling the playing field for the industry subsidies and renewable fuels. The advert also targeted Mitt Romney portraying him as being in the pocket of oil industry heaviest hitters. One noted by Sabato one aide referred the advertising purchase as ‘significant’ (249). In response to some conservative group of Americans for Prosperity, Obama put an ad that defended the administrations energy record which was aired in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina, and Virginia (89-93). From 2012 to 2016: Concluding thoughts on the permanent campaign by Susan MacManus As Obama sought his reelection he was faced with the challenge of being in the government during a time which the US was engaged in two foreign wars and the economic devastation of the recession offered a very different backdrop for the reelection of President Obama as he sought for the second term as American’s first black president. The 2008’s slogan of ‘Hope and Change’ was replaced with the more somber and serious ‘Forward’. However, Sabato (195-198) asserts that the state of Ohio is a major bellweather of national American opinion. Dating back to 1904 there have been 27 American presidential contests, and 25 of them the person who won in Ohio took the white house. This was true as Obama won in Ohio and ended in the White House. However, nationally economy is going to the core issue that would sway the voters. During his campaigns Obama focused on pulling the nation out of recession, yet the rate of unemployment remains at an approximated 8 % mark and the creation of jobs is still anemic. However, the first time challengers draw their advantage from criticisms and controversial policies initiated by the incumbents. President Obama’s reelection campaign was no different as Romney hammered away Obama’s economic policies. He argued that he failed to spur meaningful economic growth (Gallup). Although Obama’s liberal base is an upset at his centrist leanings in office, a number of swing voters were held over by the healthcare reforms and the looming possibility of economic downturn (200-210). Most of the American elections have been determined by several intertwining factors. However, the major determining factors are financial resources and incumbency. Although the reelection of President Obama was not as much hyped as it was during his first attempt in office, his tenure as the President offered him a big advantage over his closest rival Mitch Romney. During his tenure, although a few people were not in agreement with policies that he initiated, his reelection was contrary to what many people expected. Numerous individuals expected a tight presidential race something that never was (214). The race pitted Obama against Mitt Romney, and to beat Romney he was re-ignite the popular enthusiasm that propelled him to utmost triumph in 2008. Sabato (226) pointed out that his book is one which Democrats would love to read, but for the Republicans it is must they must read. Since Sabato is considered as one of the leading authors with expertise in American politics, Susan MacManus’ essay makes a significant contribution to highlight comprehensively every facet of the 2012 election, and what its development and results would mean for the country progressing forward. Summarily, this impressively informative book by professor Larry Sabato incorporates more than a dozen essays that examine the United States’ changing voter demographics, media, money in politics, party platforms and the future of both the Democrats and Republicans, as well as many other topics, “Barack Obama and the new America; The 2012 election and the changing face of politics” provides readers with an in-depth and comprehensive examination of the forces that reigned in the 2012 elections. Larry Sabato has done an extremely good job to place the election in the historical perspective to depict the traditional driving factors in elections that have remained the same to the developing trends that would alter the comprehension on how elections work. Consequently, this book serves as an excellent introduction to political science together with an update for experts in the political field. The collections of essays provide compelling insights and offer a comprehensive accounting and contextualization of events and data. The essays are clearly written with almost all of them being accompanied with careful notes, although they focus towards the trends and demographics rather than policy. As a consequence, one can deduce that these collections paint a cogent if predictable scenario of the 2012 presidential election. With the onset of the new decade, more than gender, race, background, and religion explain the election results. Works Cited Gallup. 2012. “Election 2012 Trial Heat: Obama vs. Romney.” http:// www.gallup.com/poll/150743/Obama-Romney.aspx. Accessed November 26, 2013. Sabato, Larry J. Barack Obama and the New America: The 2012 Election and the Changing Face of Politics . New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2013. Read More