Obama’s election marked a new era but could not reverse cultural shifts

Evidence

By the time of his victory, the new century’s key ideological trends had already taken hold. Downtown New York scenesters and anonymous forum posters found thrills in a new transgressive, nihilistic form of conservatism. Hip-hop found its formula for enduring domination in an omnivorous approach. Poptimism gave full blessing to manufactured pop idols and gossip culture, while Jay-Z and Paris Hilton made entrepreneurialism cool. The internet found its momentum in offering a seamless way to evade social norms. This helped liberals organize around resistance to the Bush regime, culminating in the election of the first Black president. As much as Obama’s victory promised a new focus on expertise and thoughtful politics, however, there would be no return to the nineties. His election may have marked a new era, but he was powerless to reverse the cultural shifts already in motion. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 204

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the omnivore monoculture thesis — hip-hop’s ‘omnivorous approach’ here is an early instance of the flattening Marx describes. — connects to: Obama’s election rebranded rather than ended American imperial policy — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 495
• SEED: The claim that cultural trends had already taken hold before 2008 could seed a piece on how election victories mislead observers into thinking politics drives culture rather than vice versa.