Obama: From Promise to Power, by David Mendell
(Click for Amazon book review)
BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:
This book, published in August 2007, is a general review of Obama's career by a Chicago reporter who has been following Obama's career since the State Senate days. Reporters tend to write analytical books that explore the candidate's background, and local reporters tend to expose parts of the candidate's background which the national audience is unaware of. This book accomplishes both of those -- as such, it's the first unbiased biography for this campaign season -- although more are sure to follow.
This book is mostly a critique of Dreams From My Father (Obama's biography). Therefore it's the same type of book for Obama as A Woman in Charge and Her Way is for Hillary Clinton (those two books reviewed in detail Hillary's biography, Living History).
The two Hillary analyses were met with a large-scale book tour, and massive press attention -- but this book about Obama was not. I suppose that reflects that , in 2007, Hillary's winning the Democratic primary seemed inevitable. Now that the inevitably is shattered, you can be a well-informed voter by comparing this book with the two Hillary analyses.
The author of this book, David Mendell, has been a Chicago Tribune eporter since 1998, before Obama's rise to national celebrity. We'll let our excerpts and the author's own self-description say the rest -- here is an excerpt that exemplifies the author's attitude towards Obama:
Page 12, About Obama's 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention:
"Having covered Obama for the Chicago Tribune since the early days of his U.S. candidacy more than nine months before, I had already established a rapport with the senator, and I was mostly trying to stay out of the way and watch the day unfold, watch the story of Barack Obama unfurl. Still, as a skeptical newspaper reporter, I was not completely convinced that, by day's end, all would come out well. I was still trying to gauge if this strut was something of an act, whether his winning free throw would clang on the rim and bounce away or whether he was on the verge off hitting nothing but net and making a national name for himself."
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And here is an excerpt that explains, in Mendell's view, why Obama has become so much more personally popular than Hillary:
Page 18:
"Obama was, in his own words, "a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views," or that the higher he soared, the more this politician spoke in well-worn platitudes and the more he offered warm, feel-good sentiments lacking a precise framework."
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Click here for 35 full quotes from Barack Obama in the book From Promise to Power, by David Mendell.
OR click on an issue category below for a subset. |
Budget & Economy
Government regulation needed for when markets fail.
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Civil Rights
1980s boss predicted Obama would be heir to MLK's voice.
Blacks should infiltrate mainstream to affect change.
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Crime
Works on ex-offender laws because it could have been him.
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Drugs
Experimented with cocaine but turned down heroin.
A "secret smoker", especially around reporters.
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Environment
1985: Organized asbestos removal in Chicago housing project.
Passed lead abatement & 24 other laws in IL Senate.
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Foreign Policy
At college, protested for divestment from South Africa.
Increased aid to Republic of Congo.
Visited largest slum in Africa, to publicize its plight.
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Government Reform
1998: First law passed, 52-4, stripping legislator perks.
2004: Used state money for seemingly political mailing.
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Gun Control
Concealed carry OK for retired police officers.
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Homeland Security
2005: Passed bill to reduce conventional weapon stockpiles.
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Principles & Values
Goal as youth: Leave the world a better place.
Planned on presidency since well before 2004 Convention.
Seen as both critical outsider and establishment insider.
Dreams from My Father originally about Harvard Law Review.
Favorite authors: E. L. Doctorow & Shakespeare.
To understand Obama, understand Hawaii's cultural mix.
Father was first African exchange student at U. Hawaii.
High school jock--played football as defensive lineman.
Carries Bible on campaign trail, & refers to it weekly.
1990: Elected Law Review president with conservative support.
Met Michelle Robinson at law firm; married in 1990.
State Senate opponents disqualified on technicality.
Lost campaign for US Congress against Bobby Rush in 2000.
Senate 2004 campaign theme: "Yes we can".
2004: Won Senate seat against Alan Keyes, 70%-29%.
The Plan: Raise Obama's profile, including African adventure.
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Technology
As Senate freshman spoke out on Katrina ramifications.
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Welfare & Poverty
Saw dire poverty as a child in Indonesia.
1985: Launched project to give voice to disempowered.
Ownership Society is another term for "Social Darwinism".
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The above quotations are from Obama: From Promise to Power, by David Mendell.
Related books, debates, and candidates:
- Should Barack Obama Be President? by Fred Zimmerman
- Obama: From Promise to Power, by David Mendell
- Barack Obama: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson
- Hopes and Dreams: The Story of Barack Obama, by Steve Dougherty
- Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, by Barack Obama
- The Contenders, by Laura Flanders, et al.
- A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win, by Shelby Steele
- The Blueprint for Change, Obama's campaign platform booklet
- The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, by Barack Obama
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