Obama and the "Crabgrass Frontier"

I mentioned in class the other night that I was saving up all my posts for the end because I wanted to take in a full semester's worth of knowledge before I started blogging. While I can't say that was entirely true... I will say that by doing so I have a much better perspective when I read pieces such as this. I honestly have NO IDEA what the "de Volkskrant" is... but when the article title "Obama Conquers the Crabgrass Frontier came across my RSS feed, I have to say I was more than a little intrigued.

The author, perhaps unintentionally, made reference to Kenneth T. Jackson's timely book while examining voting percentages in the Presidential election. Consider the following:

"What President-elect Obama accomplished Nov. 4 in the 'crabgrass frontier' was truly remarkable, not just statistically but for the multiracial coalition he formed among multicultural cities and their more segregated suburbs."

He goes on to say that Obama's success among city and suburban voters suggests the possibility of regional coalitions to solve mutual “metro” problems, like housing and transportation. And when it comes to race, his popularity in the nation’s suburbs is a positive sign of how far we’ve come.

Seems like I've heard that before (over the course of this class)! If anything, despite it's relative obscurity, the "de Volkskrant" just made one heck of a contemporary leap for this MPA student. Here's hoping that the "de Volkskrant" isn't alone in it's assessment of voter turnout, and that President-elect Obama can make serious strides in seeing that these regional coalitions come to fruition.