From 'Yes We Can' to the Oval Office: Weighing the Obama Campaign Against Its Administration

Photo Submitted

Pearl K. Ford, University of Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – On the campaign trail, “Yes We Can” was a powerful slogan, appealing to a broad spectrum of voters of different racial backgrounds. How well has its vision and promise translated to the Oval Office? A team led by University of Arkansas political scientist Pearl K. Ford has examined the Obama campaign’s promise of change, his administration’s progress, and the potential impact on future minority candidates.

“In the end, Obama’s administration may be judged by where his allegiance lies in the struggle between privilege and equality and the effectiveness of his presidency in ‘closing the gap’ between blacks and whites,” the researchers wrote. “The Obama election has the potential to change the relationship between the African American community and the institutions of government. Will his administration empower future African American candidates?”

In “‘Yes We Can’ or ‘Yes We Did’ Prospective and Retrospective Change in the Obama Presidency,” Ford, Tekla A. Johnson and Angie Maxwell studied Barack Obama’s campaign strategies and voters’ expectations of his administration. The researchers asked whether the Obama administration has begun to fulfill voters’ visions and whether his presidency will open the doors to more minority candidates. The study results were published in the Journal of Black Studies.

Obama came into office after a carefully balanced and technologically sophisticated presidential campaign that spoke to voters’ beliefs that he could bring important changes.

Noting that change takes time, Ford said, “It is unrealistic to expect overwhelming change this early in a presidency. Obama has been the most active president in his first hundred days since Franklin D. Roosevelt.”

His election was based on both prospective and retrospective factors, the researchers wrote. The “prospective expectations of what his presidency would mean” were “impacted by the retrospective context of the changing social, economic and political global economy.”

Obama’s presidential bid benefitted from the campaigns of black candidates who had preceded him on the national stage, including Shirley Chisholm and Jesse Jackson.

“Obama, in the tradition of black political insurgency ran as an outsider utilizing strong grassroots organizing to develop networks that would contribute to his success, particularly in caucus states,” the researchers wrote.

Obama himself ran a “race-neutral” campaign that took advantage of another change in the political environment, a shift in white racial attitudes that gave his campaign the opening needed to reach white voters. As a candidate, he “succeeded in balancing a campaign that was only loosely connected to the black community but was dependent on race conscious behavior to mobilize black voters.”

Another retrospective change that the Obama campaign employed especially successfully was the use of “Web 2.0,” the viral and social technology that allowed mass dissemination of Obama’s message as well as opened new outlets for organization and voter mobilization. These outlets both facilitated African American participation, “which has long been a model for this type of organizing,” and helped build a coalition of white voters.

Prospective change refers to the hopes and expectations of voters going into the election. Voters expected Obama to stop the economic slide and restore American credibility internationally. Many supporters envisioned an Obama presidency as “the first step towards a post-racial America.”

Ford cautioned that the notion of a post-racial society is premature. There have been some advances under the Obama administration, such as the reactivation of the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice and the confirmation of an African American, Regina Benjamin, as surgeon general.

Still, Ford noted, “Disparities between African Americans and whites haven’t changed, particularly with unemployment.”

She pointed to weaknesses in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – the stimulus bill – which was intended to address unemployment: “Even when there is funding in the stimulus bill for blighted areas, there is no mechanism in place to ensure that African Americans have access to contracts or training. Such oversight wasn’t included in the bill.”

The Obama administration also faces the issue of the criminal justice system and sentencing disparities. Ford cited statistics that show a disproportionate incarceration rate for African American males: In 2009, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported illicit drug use rates of 10.1 percent for blacks and 8.2 percent for whites. While African Americans are estimated to be 13.5 percent of the U.S. population, Human Rights Watch reported that African Americans were 53.5 percent of all persons who entered prison because of drug convictions. As of June 2008, African American men were 40.2 percent of all inmates in state and federal prisons, according to the Department of Justice.

 “Differential sentencing for crack and powder cocaine serves as a metaphor for a two-track judicial system, one for blacks and another for whites,” the researchers wrote.

Continuing disparities in jobs, health care and the criminal justice system present a challenge to future African American candidates for public office. They can benefit from the same technological advances that allowed Obama to present an unfiltered message to voters.

“However, if the economic stimulus does not trickle down and adequately address economic and quality of life disparities for their black constituents,” the researchers wrote, “it will be difficult for future black candidates to develop and maintain the diverse coalition of voters that ensured Obama’s electoral victory.”

In conclusion, the researchers wrote, “While his election speaks to racial progress, Obama must be careful not to discount or to ignore the defining issues of structural racism, such as disparities in incarceration rates and in access to health care, that still plague America.”

Ford and Maxwell are assistant professors of political science in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Johnson, a historian, is the author of the forthcoming book ‘Free Radical’: A Political Biography of Nebraska State Senator Ernest Chambers.