DeepSummary
David Runciman and Gary Gerstel discuss the 2008 US presidential election, where Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton and John McCain to become America's first Black president. They analyze the dynamics of the Democratic primary race between Obama and Clinton, including Obama's innovative grassroots campaigning and Clinton's more conventional approach. They also examine John McCain's campaign and his controversial selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.
A key focus is the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, which hit during the campaign and played a role in Obama's victory. Runciman and Gerstel evaluate how Obama and McCain responded to the crisis, including McCain's misstep of suspending his campaign without a clear plan. They also discuss the symbolic significance of Obama's victory as the first Black president and the racial backlash that followed.
The episode closes with an assessment of Obama's presidency, with Gerstel arguing that while transformative in some ways, Obama ultimately preserved the neoliberal economic order rather than ushering in major reforms. Runciman ponders whether historians will view Obama as the last neoliberal president or Trump as the first of a new era.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The 2008 US presidential election was a watershed moment, with Barack Obama becoming the first Black president through innovative grassroots campaigning.
- The financial crisis that erupted during the campaign played a major role, with Obama and McCain taking different approaches that impacted the outcome.
- While symbolically transformative, Obama's presidency ultimately preserved the neoliberal economic order rather than enacting major reforms.
- Sarah Palin's controversial vice presidential candidacy presaged the rising right-wing populism that culminated in Donald Trump's election.
- The racial dynamics surrounding Obama's election highlighted the enduring challenges of racism in America.
- New media and networking tactics pioneered by Obama reshaped future campaigning strategies.
- McCain represented an older, moderate Republican brand being displaced by Palin's brand of conservatism.
- The rapidity of the 2008 crisis differentiated it from historical analogues like the Great Depression, posing unique governing challenges.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “And if we're saying he's a throwback to an earlier era, if you're saying or suggesting that the future was going to belong to a more right wing republican party, then it is correct to see McCain as occupying a, it's hard to call it a centrist space because the republican party was firmly on the right, but certainly a more moderate version than what was brewing on the right wing of the Republican Party, especially in.“ by Mint Mobile Unlimited premium wireless
- “So I understand his impulse to work with Bush. It was a compromise because Bush was willing to move out of some of his doctrinaire small state provisions, let the markets figure it out themselves. He involved the government and the Federal Reserve enormous ways in a desperate effort to save the economy. So he was, we might say, was moving left as Obama was moving right.“ by Mint Mobile Unlimited premium wireless
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Episode Information
Past Present Future
Ben Walker
3/24/24
For our final episode in this series, David and Gary discuss the election of 2008, which saw Barack Obama’s extraordinary ascent to the presidency. How did he outthink and outmanoeuvre Hilary Clinton? What role did the financial crisis play in his path to the White House? And was it really the vice-presidential candidates in this election who pointed the way to America’s political future?
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