Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father, copyright 1995, has sealed the deal on my Feb. 9th Caucus vote. I was leaning toward Obama before (I originally supported the Draft Gore movement), but now I'm firmly behind Obama and will get involved in his campaign.
I believe that if every undecided Democrat read this book, Obama would cruise to victory in the primaries and probably general election, too.
The first thing that stands out is that he wrote this book in 1995, before he even ran for a single political race. I hate political books written by politicians running for office. I avoid them like the plague. "Audacity of Hope"? Bleaghh! I simply refuse to read any 200, 300, or 400 page book that ammounts to begging for my vote. That's why Dreams From My Father appealed to me. Because it's a chance to gain political insight on a candidate before he became a political figure.
This book answers most, if not all, of the major negatives leveled at Obama.
He's not black enough! check
He's really a cold, distant, snobbish elite! check
He's not a true progressive! check
He's clueless about healthcare for the poor! check
He's inexperienced in life and foreign affairs! check
He's a not-so-secret Reagan lover! check
What's incredible to me is that at almost every fork in the road he has encountered in his life, Obama has chosen the more difficult path. Who does this?
Obama's intellect shines through fine on the campaign trail. What you discover upon reading this book as that he has a real introspective side. And he has a true curiosity about life. He also has a very true humble side to him.
I was struck by his recounting of the tale of starting 6th grade at a Hawaii Prep school. In a big class, there was only one other African-American student, a shy girl named Coretta. After sort of eyeballing each other for a few weeks, they eventually started speaking with one another. But soon after the fragile friendship started up, other boys on the playground started teasing him about having a girlfriend. He publicly denied it and rebuked her, causing her much shame and resulting in her running away and never speaking to him again. The entire event caused him shame and embarrassment as he looked back on it throughout his life.
The other thing that sort of caught my attention is that Obama does not seem to have been one that was easily awestruck. In the book he casually mentions seeing Jesse Jackson around 1983-84 at a rally. He also worked in Chicago and saw Mayor Harold Washington. He reports on Washington's charisma not through his own eyes, but through the eyes of many of his fellow community organizers.
I've always got the sense that Obama is very down to earth, and very practical in his approach to life, not one to be easily fooled by celebrity, nor one to kiss a lot of ass. This story confirmed my gut feeling about him.
Finally, if Hillary wins the nomination because she teared up between Iowa and NH, then that will be a shame. Obama has transcended the tragedy and hardships in his life. I think people caught barely a glimpse of this in the NH debate where he very briefly mentioned his mother's struggle with ovarian cancer. But he zipped it up quick. He does not use the hardships of his life out on the campaign trail.
The guy has principles he will not sell out. And not politicizing his personal life seems to be one of these principles.
Whether Obama is still in this race on Wednesday, or not, you should read this book.