Obama and the Closing of the American Dream

During his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama spoke movingly of restoring the American Dream, the dream that allowed him to rise from poverty to Columbia University, Harvard Law School, and now, the Democratic nominee for President. In the meantime, the Republican party continue to try to turn their opponents’ strengths into weaknesses as they tap into voters’ resentments by suggesting that Obama might be too exceptional, too well-qualified, too “elitist” to be president. Aziz Rana recounts the history of Obama’s American Dream, and argues that many working class voters remember they once had a different dream, one that makes them skeptical of meritocratic success.

How can Barack Obama, a man who only recently paid off his student loans and who lives a relatively modest life in Chicago’s Hyde Park, a few blocks from one of America’s poorest neighborhoods, be more “elitist” than John McCain, the son of an admiral (not to mention the husband of a beer heiress), or more “elitist” than Hillary and Bill Clinton, a couple whose joint earnings since 2000 top 100 million dollars? Yet the E-word, and the charge that Obama is out of touch with the experiences of white, blue-collar workers, first leveled against Obama by the Clintons during the primary race, still hang heavy over his otherwise charmed campaign. Read more.....