The Audacity of Hope
Barack Obama
The title of the book comes from a speech by Obama's spirited preacher the Reverend Wright. The book was eye opening for me.
I had read his other book and I thought after reading it that I would be able to quite accurately predict Obama's political view point.
I thought he would be a partisan protector of the poor and the underdog and that this would translate directly into this book of musings on a manifesto for change.
It turns out that although Obama does care very deeply about those at the receiving end of the present American system of politics and he does think that system needs changing, he sees the big problem with the system to be the entrenched partisan positions on both sides of the hot button topics of the American Political Scene.
I assumed he would dodge and avoid stating his position on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, the death penalty and guns but he does not.
He states his position and then also tries to understand the point of view of those with the opposite position. His contention is that this is the American tradition, the ability to debate issues and come to a workable situation when there are differing opinions about what should be done.
He says that this is not possible at the moment, for various reasons to do with both political parties demonising their opponents for political gain.
He talks about the special cultural importance of guns and hunting in rural america.
He talks about the deeply held religious convictions of those against abortion.
He talks about the specially abohrent nature of some crimes and the place of the death penalty in a judicial system faced with them and to my great surprise supports it in some limited circumstances.
He talks about the need to send American troops overseas to protect American interests and how that will always have to be part of any American government's foreighn policy.
Again to my surprise he gives the concrete example of Afghanistan which he believes will need the presence of even more American personnel to build a functioning state from it.
He is on the American left, which it has to be said is not very left at all.
Of course I hope he wins and wish him luck. I find his books persuasive and comforting and I think he would make a good president.
He seems to be able to resist the forces which act on a politician to force them to dumb down their position, sell out and appeal to the baser instincts of their supporters.
When compared to McCain who was a loose cannon and realising that the clock was ticking sold out completely to get his shot at the title, this in itself is admirable.
For me as a radical anti-establishment lefty though, he is no kindred spirit, just an incrimental improvement in American politics.
The book is very thought provoking, when talking about each issue, each of which gets its own chapter, he is intricate and honest about the forces and arguments which have led him to his conclusions.
Whether he becomes president or not this book is an incisive look at the American political situation and will have great relevance for a long time to come.