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Obama, Clinton, Palin: Making History in Election 2008

Online ISBN:
9780252093654
Print ISBN:
9780252036606
Publisher:
University of Illinois Press
Book

Obama, Clinton, Palin: Making History in Election 2008

Liette Gidlow (ed.)
Liette Gidlow
(ed.)
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Published:
15 December 2011
Online ISBN:
9780252093654
Print ISBN:
9780252036606
Publisher:
University of Illinois Press

Abstract

Election 2008 made American history, but it was also the product of American history. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin smashed through some of the most enduring barriers to high political office, but their exceptional candidacies did not come out of nowhere. This book explores how the candidates both challenged and reinforced historic stereotypes of race and sex while echoing familiar themes in American politics and exploiting new digital technologies. Chapters cover Clinton's gender masquerade; the politics of black anger; Michelle Obama and stereotypes about black women's bodies; black women's century of effort to expand political opportunities for African Americans; the lost legacy of Shirley Chisholm; why the U.S. has not yet followed western democracies in electing a female head of state; Palin and the political traditions of the American West; the populist resurgence in 2008; how digital technologies threaten the secret ballot; Palin's distinctive brand of political feminism; and the new look of American leadership.

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