First published 2010
Conservative activist Jason Mattera argues that Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign executed an unprecedented manipulation of America's youth. Mattera contends that an entire generation of educated young people fell victim to sophisticated digital marketing tactics. The Obama campaign deployed Twitter blasts to cell phones, viral Facebook and MySpace networks, and celebrity YouTube videos that reached college students worldwide. Meanwhile, fundraising operations generated massive amounts of money. Mattera claims this created an army of unthinking young voters who elected what he calls the most radical president in American history. Through personal interviews and original research, Mattera documents the methods Obama's campaign used to convert iPod listeners and MTV watchers into a political force. He exposes what he sees as collaboration between Obama's team and allies in Hollywood, Washington, and universities. The book serves as both an indictment of liberal tactics and a call for conservatives to awaken young people from political apathy and build a countercultural movement against the left.
Genres: politics, activism, american-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: call-to-action, political-indictment
Period: 2008, 21st-Century
288 pages · Hardcover · Threshold Editions