Alexa Strudler English 101 Robert Dewhurst 12/05/2010 The Obama Counterpublic

The Obama Counterpublic Think back two years, at the height of the 2008 presidential elections, Barak Obama against John McCain two men who embodied old and new both in appearance and ideology, The campaign that Obama formed transcended normal political models, and instead took the form of what Michael Warner would call a counter public, A Counterpublic is defined by Warner as a public who are defined by their tension with a larger public, who are aware of their subordinate status (56), Obama supporters during the election of 2008 formed a temporary counterpublic in response to the current norms of the American political system and to bring change to an ailing country,

The election of 08 was a turning point in American history, between two wars and an economic crisis at a level unseen since the great depression this election was going to be far more then a typical ad campaign, Obama was a powerful symbol of hope to many Americans who desperately needed it, First look at his age, Obama is one of the youngest presidents ever to take office; this fact makes Obama into a symbol of youth, Second look at his ethnicity, he is African-

American, this is a huge factor, this makes him different from every other man who was president, people would see him as a true symbol of difference from the common white hierarchy that was currently running the country. Look at the other 42 men who have been president, 90% of them have been white, coming from a wealthy background, and are highly educated, one such man who fit into this stereotype is George W. Bush. This being the case most Americans wanted a change to stray away from the normal presidents, which was represented in the hype surrounding Obama. Other things that set Obama apart from most of the leaders of today was a strong message of hope and change, Both such inspiring words they allow people to dream and envision a better future for their families and the United States.

One of the most important aspects to a counterpublic is activity and unity, Obamas campaign was probably one of the most active campaigns in the history of US politics, Every state had many Obama bases where people could go and actively support the campaign in a number of ways, First the call center, many people would make phone calls to people in hopes of gaining support for Obama by spreading his message, Secondly, people would makes posters and signs and place them all around neighborhoods, During this campaign a lot of the volunteers were teenagers a group not previously known for being politically active, The youth activity involved in Obamas campaign was one of the reasons it was so revolutionary, for

most presidential candidates would just target the elderly demographic because they were the majority of the people who voted on Election Day as opposed to the youth which had the smallest percentage of attendance during the actual voting day, Obamas campaign also brought many people who would never even consider going to the polls to vote to think twice, His campaign also brought a lot of people together uniting them in an effort to change the American landscape.

A big difference between Obama and other candidates of the time was the source of his funding. Most campaigns would use powerful lobbies and corrupt organizations in order to pay for their campaign, this in turn would cause problems because candidates would then be indebted to whoever funded them causing the system to be corrupt. Obama on the other hand had grassroots funding which meant most of his campaign funds came from small communities or average Americans who wanted to help him get elected. A counterpublic is not based on precise demography but mediated by print, theatre, diffuse networks of talk, commerce and the like this quote by Warner ties in more similarities between Obamas campaign and a counterpublic. Obamas counterpublic is not limited to any demography, his supporters ranged from the young naive 18 year old and the nice 75-year-old lady who lives next door. Obamas method of mediation was also unique he was the first presidential candidate to use the vast power of the internet though, both his own personal site and his own

facebook group, to supporter made facebook groups and supporter made sites to unite and communicate with the vast millions of supporters. When it comes to political theatre, Obama is a master. He considered one of the best orators in modern day politics and he used this ability often during the campaign whenever he would do a public speaking event or a debate. His mastery of the spoken word gave Obama a likeable charisma, that many people fell in love with. Warner in his book Publics and Counterpublics, Warner also mentions another type of public called subaltern publics. Subaltern publics are a lesser form of a counterpublic by which they have a force unifying them but they do nothing to effect society as a whole. Take for example the crazy fans of a celebrity like horrific Justin Bieber; his fans would be considered a subaltern public. They are not a counterpublic because while it is true they are all under a unifying force, they take no active participation in anything more then just being obsessed with him, they do nothing to affect society as a whole. Obamas supporters however were part of a counterpublic because they were unlike Biebers public, both united and they used the power of their unity to change the American political landscape by helping to elect Obama president.

It is important to differentiate candidate Obama from President Obama, because Warner states in his definition of counterpublic a counterpublic exchanges remain distinct from authority and can have a critical relation to power, By this

definition candidate Obama was a counterpublic because he was not in the establishment of power, and due to his political view candidate Obama was critical to the current establishment of authority aka George W, Bush and the republicans, Obamas policy and views clashed in every way possible from the Iraq war to tax cuts, unintentionally causing him to form a counterpublic, President Obama on the other hand is a complete opposite, president Obama is in the center of the establishment and has a great deal political power, This has changed his following and the public that once supported him, now that he is president his public (or what little is left of it anyways) no longer have a critical relation to power and their exchanges are not distinct from authority because they now support the current establishment So why is Obama deteriorating in the polls now as President? There are many reasons for this first is he got what he wanted, By becoming president Obama has become the very thing people were once rallying against, he has become the symbol of the all powerful president and the authority of the government and is therefore liable for anything that goes wrong in the country, such as the economic crisis, the gulf oil spill the health care system, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, all of these events the media has tried label as a failure of Obama as president. Secondly the media has played a large factor in the recent downward opinion of Obama, During the campaign most of media supported Obama or did many stories that seemed to favor Obama over McCain but after his election the media has turned

against him in order to keeper their ratings high they post mainly negative stories about the president making it hard to like him because from what you hear, he is not doing a good job, Thirdly the democrats, Obamas party, became the majority thereby becoming the establishment and transforming republicans into the new outcasts giving them a newfound popularity.

In 2008 when Barack Obama ran for president of the United States, a movement was created that was so rarely seen in American history. This movement would take the form of a temporary counterpublic due to the nature of the people participating within it to change the course in which the country was headed. This counterpublic challenged conventional American politics, and would lead to many changes to the United States such as economic reform, healthcare reform, tax reform, bank reform, etc. the ironic part is that this counterpublics victory would transform it the new larger public and would transform the former dominant public into the new counterpublic it seems that the cycle will never stop.