Is Obama set to transform American politics?
By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers
* Posted on Sunday, January 27, 2008
WASHINGTON — If Illinois Sen. Barack Obama can replicate what he did in South Carolina, he could be on the verge of seizing control of the Democratic nomination and perhaps changing American politics.
In Iowa, he forged a new coalition of young voters, newcomers to politics, and change-hungry Americans surging to the polls in record-shattering numbers. Adding a new element, he rolled up a huge majority among African Americans.
This does not mean he seized the nomination, or even the title of front-runner.
The old politics dies hard. He lost close contests in New Hampshire and Nevada. And Hillary Clinton also has a formidable coalition, spearheaded by women, the elderly, and those who value experience over a fresh approach.
Yet overall, the rush of new voters, particularly young people, to the Obama campaign renews the suggestion that the nation is on the cusp of an historic shift. He could be the first African-American ever to win a major party nomination — or the presidency.
His success also would signal what John F. Kennedy in 1960 called the passing of the torch to a new generation. Obama, 46, aims to turn the page on the way the nation's done politics and government under the baby-boom presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and would-be president Hillary Clinton, 60.
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