The 2008 presidential election was celebrated around the world as a seminal moment in U.S. political and racial history. White liberals and other progressives framed the election through the prism of change, while previously acknowledged demographic changes were hastily heralded as the dawn of a "post-racial" America. However, by 2011, much of the post-election idealism had dissipated in the wake of an on-going economic and financial crisis, escalating wars in Afghanistan and Libya, and the rise of the right-wing Tea Party movement. By placing Obama in the historical context of U.S. race relations, this volume interrogates the idealized and progressive view of American society advanced by much of the mainstream literature on Obama. Barack Obama and the Myth of a Post-Racial America takes a careful look at the historical, cultural and political dimensions of race in the United States, using an interdisciplinary analysis that incorporates approaches from history, political science, and sociology. Each chapter addresses controversial issues such as whether Obama can be considered an African-American president, whether his presidency actually delivered the kind of deep-rooted changes that were initially prophesised, and whether Obama has abandoned his core African-American constituency in favour of projecting a race-neutral approach designed to maintain centrist support. Through cutting edge, critically informed, and cross-disciplinary analyses, this collection directly addresses the dimensions of race in American society through the lens of Obama’s election and presidency.

In this important and timely volume, Dennis W. Johnson has assembled an outstanding team of political scientists and political professionals to examine one of the fiercest and most closely fought presidential elections of our time. Like its predecessor, Campaigning for President 2008, Campaigning for President 2012: Strategy and Tactics focuses on political management. It is written by both elections/campaign scholars and practitioners, who highlight the role of political consultants and campaigns while also emphasizing the strategy and tactics employed by the candidates, the national political parties, and outside interests. The contributors explore the general mood of the electorate in the 2012 election, the challenges Obama faced after his first term, the primaries, money, communication, the important issues of the election, and finally the election itself.

The Global Obama examines the president’s image in five continents and more than twenty countries. It is the first book to look at Barack Obama’s presidency and analyze how Obama and America are viewed by publics, governments, and political commentators around world. The author of Barack Obama in Hawaii and Indonesia: The Making of a Global President (Top 10 Black History Book) scaled the globe to gather opinions – cultural, historical, and political analyses – about Obama’s leadership style. Writers, journalists, psychologists, consultants, and social scientists present their views on Obama’s leadership, popularity, and many of the global challenges that still remain unresolved. As a progress report, this is the first book that tries to grasp ‘the Obama phenomenon’ in totality, as perceived by populations around the world with special focus on America’s leadership in the 21st Century.

Larry Sabato, one of the leading experts in American politics, has brought together respected journalists and academics from across the political spectrum to examine every facet of the 2012 election, and what its development and outcome will mean for the nation moving forward. In frank, accessible prose, each author offers insight that goes beyond the headlines, and dives into the underlying forces and shifts that drove the election from its earliest developments to its dramatic conclusion. Contributing authors joining Larry Sabato with chapters in the book include: Professor Alan Abramowitz of Emory University; Professor Diana Owen of Georgetown University; Jamelle Bouie of American Prospect; Professor James Campbell of SUNY-Buffalo; Political writers and commentators Kyle Kondik and Geoff Skelley of the University of Virginia Center for Politics; Michael Toner, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission; Karen E. Trainer of Wiley Rein LLP; Nate Cohn of The New Republic; Rhodes Cook, formerly of Congressional Quarterly; Robert Costa of National Review; Sean Trende of RealClearPolitics; and Professor Susan MacManus of the University of South Florida. Following Sabato’s introductory analysis, the contributors provide a comprehensive review of everything in play during the 2012 elections, including the controversial roles that unprecedented amounts of money and media played in deciding who would occupy the Oval Office as well as pivotal seats in Congress. They also explore the nominating processes, conventions, and futures of both the Democratic and Republican parties, and what recent geographic and demographic electoral realignments might mean for America’s politics beyond 2012.

The Teleological Discourse of Barack Obama, by Richard Leeman, provides an in-depth analysis of President Barack Obama’s speeches and writings to explain the power of the 44th president's speaking.This book argues that, from his earliest writings through his latest presidential speeches, Obama has described the world through a teleological lens. Teleology is the philosophy of discovering in the essential nature of humans or countries the telos, or ideal, towards which one should progress. Obama consistently portrays freedom and equality as essential to human nature and the American spirit. Understanding his discourse as teleological helps explain the inspirational and philosophical nature of his rhetoric, as well as his famous patience, perceiving progress where others become frustrated. Teleological discourse is ancient, with its roots in philosophies such as Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Christian theology, and its handprints evident in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. In order to discover the roots of Obama's teleological perspective, Leeman also examines the speeches of presidents Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan, as well as the civil rights discourse of Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Although the roots of his teleological discourse run deep, President Obama's particular use of the philosophy is very modern. The Teleological Discourse of Barack Obama is an essential contribution to the study of American politics and political rhetoric.

Now that the first term of the Obama presidency is nearly over and another presidential election campaign is approaching, this book is especially timely. It summarizes the promises that then candidate Barak Obama made and analyzes President Obamas accomplishments in terms of delivering on those promises. Obamas Broken Promises ventures across the total scope of the U.S. economy, factually and statistically documenting the administrations impact on unemployment, the national debt, poverty, health care, education, housing, energy, trade, foreign relations, and more. Everyone who is planning to vote in November and feels impelled in an era of negative campaigning to base his or her choice on facts rather than attack ads should read this book. It is a bold excursion into the reality of Americas most pressing needs.

What Democrats Talk about When They Talk about God is a collection of essays on the religious communication of members of the Democratic Party, past and present-in office, while campaigning, and in their public and private writing. While many books on the market address issues at the intersection of church and state, none to date have focused exclusively on Democrats as important participants in the dialogue about religion and politics.

A series of four instant eBooks on the 2012 presidential election, POLITICO’s Playbook 2012 provides an unprecedented real-time account of the race for the White House. The third edition, Obama’s Last Stand, follows the reelection campaign of President Barack Obama as it struggles to find the winning formula in a political landscape that has changed dramatically since his history-making victory in 2008. Though battered and bruised after nearly four years in office, Barack Obama remains the most competitive player on the field in American politics today. In Obama’s Last Stand, POLITICO White House correspondent Glenn Thrush chronicles the efforts of the president and his team to secure a second term in the face of a determined opposition, unfavorable economic headwinds, and a series of missteps by his own team. This is a revealing portrait of the president at the most precarious moment in his political life, with insights and anecdotes drawn straight from the notebook of one of the most perceptive reporters in America. The trash-talking schoolyard athlete in Obama is very much in evidence, especially when he speaks caustically about his Republican rivals, including the man he thinks is trying to steal his legacy, Mitt Romney. Yet apart from Romney and the uncertain economy, Obama’s greatest obstacle on the road to reelection may be Obama 2008. He and his team of talented advisers must try to reconcile their nostalgia for that once-in-a-lifetime campaign with the realities of an election fundamentally altered by the advent of super PACs and the evaporation of Obama’s superstar popularity. That challenge has led a campaign operation that once prided itself on flawless execution of strategy to commit several of the most dangerous unforced errors of Obama’s political career. Yet the game is far from over. If Obama is sometimes his own worst enemy, he also has the talent and drive to reclaim this race. Spurred on by the realistic prospect of losing, and growing ever more impatient with the foibles of his campaign staff, Obama the competitor is gearing up for the most critical fourth quarter of his career. This is the story of the last stand that will either cement his legacy forever—or consign him to a roster of once-promising one-term presidents.

This book examines the Bush Doctrine and its effect and influence on the new national security agenda of President Obama.

In the latest volume in this classic series, Rockman, Rudalevige, and Campbell once again bring together top-notch scholars, this time to take a comprehensive look at the first two years of Barack Obama’s presidency. Assessing Obama’s political strategy, as well as his administration’s successes and setbacks, chapter authors critically examine a presidency marked by continued partisanship, major policy battles, and continued global turmoil.