Blackwell Reference Online

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In November 2008, the United States celebrated the election of its first black president – Barack Obama – in what appeared a rare moment of national unity, with widespread support for a program of political and economic reform during the height of the Great Recession. Obama's appeal to consensus politics undercut the power of the conservatives in the Republican Party, who won through appeals to national chauvinism, nativism, and capitalist individualism. To be sure, Republicans had tried to mobilize opposition to Obama, but his obeisance to finance capital sealed his victory. In 2008, at the time of Obama's victory, right-wing populism had yet to appear to counter consensus politics in the United States. Initially, Obama was seen as a larger than life figure who would quickly end the economic crisis, create jobs, and stop unpopular foreign wars. Two years later, in the November 2010 mid-term elections, Democrats lost over 60 seats, suffering their worst defeat in a mid-term election since 1938. But the Tea Party, which held its first protests in February 2009, was instrumental in the victory for many new Republicans through a highly strident ideological program of adhering to capitalist individualism, business, capitalist interests, and an end to all debt and opposing any government programs. The contradiction in the Tea Party “victory” was incomplete, as mainstream Republicans ... log in or subscribe to read full text