What Obama Means...for Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future

Barack Obama's phenomenal rise results from a ground-level version of harmonic convergence: the proper alignment of irreversible cultural trends, substantial political developments and unstoppable market forces. Part of his emergence derives from Obama himself: his charisma, his peerless eloquence, his seemingly effortless mastery of the issues, and the clarity with which he presents and pursues his agenda. But none of those qualities counters the fact that he appeared at the exactly right time and place in the course of American events. Although Obama's very ascendance is a watershed moment, it is provoked consequences that will reach far beyond the fight for the Democratic nomination. In addition to turning the old civil-rights model of African-American leadership on its head, Obama has suggested a new framework of public service and leadership that will undoubtedly influence ambitious Americans of all backgrounds.

Standing confidently at the intersection of both politics and popular culture, Obama has become a human embodiment of a tipping point--the leader and chief beneficiary of a positive social epidemic with important consequences for black Americans and the nation at large. WHAT OBAMA MEANS proposes to look at this phenomenon in detail, always looking for cues from the culture as much as speculating about Obamamania's impact on the culture.