Emotion and Rationality: An Introduction -- Minimum Winning Coalition: the 2008 Presidential Election from a Historical Perspective -- Racial Change and the Politics of Hope -- The 2008 Democratic Primaries and the Presidential Selection Process -- Building the Winning Coalition in Time -- Building the Winning Coalition in Space -- Winning the General Election -- The Obama Racial Coalition: Conclusion
Summary
This book examines the historical election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president from the perspective of racial relations. To trace the effect of time, Liu links Obama's multiracial winning coalition to the two-party system and the profound impact of racial changes since 1965. Contrary to the popular momentum theory which emphasizes the early victories in mainly two states, Iowa and New Hampshire, this book demonstrates that state context matters. Obama's electoral performance in a state is better explained by its level of racial tension, rather than the emotional need of Americans to elect a black president
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 145-153) and index
