Barack Obama’s Middle-ground Political Stance in The Audacity of Hope: A Byproduct of His Mixed Heritage and Faith in Communitarianism

Abstract

This project studies the rationale behind Barack Obama’s middle-ground political stance that he has taken in his book,The Audacity of Hope,a text of political analysis with autobiographical tinge. The middle-ground political position that Barack Obama has taken in this book is the by product of his mixed heritage, hybrid identity, and upbringing in a liberal and Methodist family along with his faith in communitarian political principles. Positing middle-ground political location between liberalism and conservatism as a mnemonic strategy, Obama lays a foundation to establish communitarian view of politics in the US. Implementation of communitarian political vision can assemble Obama’s family members overseas within a larger human association, thereby creating a way to serve them. Besides, such a stance helps Obama to resolve the political deadlock caused by rigid, doctrinaire thinking. The project, at first, illuminates the middle-ground standpoint, and then, studies it through communitarianism and Obama’s own autobiographical expressions that have contributed to shape his vision. This research helps to discern the elements that present Obama as a middle-ground politician.