Obama's Race

Barack Obamas presidential victory naturally led people to believe that the United States might finally be moving into a post-racial era. Obamas Raceand its eye-opening account of the role played by race in the electionpaints a dramatically different picture. The authors argue that the 2008 election was more polarized by racial attitudes than any other presidential election on recordand perhaps more significantly, that there were two sides to this racialization: resentful opposition to and racially liberal support for Obama. As Obamas campaign was given a boost in the primaries from racial liberals that extended well beyond that usually offered to ideologically similar white candidates, Hillary Clinton lost much of her longstanding support and instead became the preferred candidate of Democratic racial conservatives. Time and again, voters racial predispositions trumped their ideological preferences as John McCainseldom described as conservative in matters of racebecame the darling of racial conservatives from both parties. Hard-hitting and sure to be controversial, Obamas Race will be both praised and criticizedbut certainly not ignored.