Glen Ford writes that “Barack Obama’s totally predictable failure to lead the nation on a transformative path all but guaranteed that the United States would revert to default mode: rule by a plutocracy backed by a white electoral base intent on cutting off their own noses to spite Black and brown faces” and concludes “Let there be gridlock.” Read his article here.
The analysis of class in Ford’s article isn’t very strong (corporations vs “the people”). All the more reason to also read Richard Seymour’s “The Class Basis of US Elections.” I think he’s wrong to treat all “professionals” and “managers” as being outside the working class (many such people should be seen as better-paid “white-collar” workers) but his analysis of the US electoral system and this election is definitely worth reading and his point that 17% of the adult population of the US is barred by law from voting due to deliberate racist state policies is important.