Obama: Urban Liberalism’s Ascent

Barack Obama makes strange bedfellows. Indeed, only Obama could unite the kings and queens of bluegrass, merengue, rhythm and blues, jam bands, rock, hip-hop, and alternative rock into a motley rainbow coalition of sonic and electoral support. This eclectic assortment of musicians is more than a political oddity (Kreps 2008). Through it, one can veritably hear the Obama coalition. With an assist from a near economic apocalypse and Sarah Palin's gaffes, this diverse coalition of racial minorities, middle-class liberals, and unmarried women put Obama into the White House (Edsall 2011). Although the president failed to heal the nation's deep ideological divide, he succeeded in something almost as magical: he kept this unruly coalition together. This task of maintaining a far-flung and diverse collection of supporters united under a single banner is no small feat. Indeed, the primary test of political success for twentieth-century liberals has been just that. Coalescing and then sustaining a heterodox coalition is the most essential hurdle before a Democrat can achieve legislative victories and build a political legacy (see Carter, Jimmy). Barack Obama's unique political gifts have helped him keep his coalition united. Just as important as the force of his personality is the context. Obama's coalition is a product of a century's worth of demographic tumult and ideological variation. The Obama presidency is proof positive of urban liberalism's ascent. Foreshadowed and foretold by a heterogeneous collection of personalities and movements that range from the Populists and insurgent Progressives to George McGovern and Eugene McCarthy, the Obama coalition is both a reflection of the Democratic Party's past and a harbinger of things to come. Obama both is and is not sui generis. A generation before his emergence, self-termed "New Politics liberals" announced a new Democratic coalition. Succeeding where Henry Wallace had failed, New Politics liberals eschewed the Roosevelt coalition's reliance on working-class whites for a new Democratic alliance dominated by "New Class" professionals (Bloodworth 2013, 4-5). According to them, a constituency of New Class professionals, African Americans, the poor, and young activists comprised the natural successors to the Roosevelt coalition. In 1972, New Politics liberals captured the Democratic nomination for their standard bearer, George McGovern. Moving beyond the New Deal coalition, the South Dakotan pursued his new liberal all