review: Ben Simkins
image: Deborah Feingold
The Audacity of Hope contains Barack Obama’s plan for “a more perfect union.” No punches are pulled as Obama scrutinizes the faults of both liberals and conservatives alike. He is unflinching as he praises and criticizes aspects of the Reagan and Clinton presidencies. He is even, on occasion, courteous to the current administration, when the majority of his readers would revel in a bout of ‘Bush bashing.’ It’s in the early chapters that a better understanding of a man who understands his own fallibility takes shape. We become aware that through this understanding of self, his criticisms fall outside the lines of party rhetoric, leaving one suddenly aware of the instability of his or her place on the soap box. It feels somewhat like my childhood, when my father would gently force me to see the faults and cracks in my own immature logic on subjects I knew little about. It’s not that I had it completely wrong, but I maybe hadn’t explored all avenues for fear of straying too far from my side of the fence.
Those who criticize Obama for being an eloquent speaker with little in the way of solutions should certainly turn to these pages. Obama’s mind is that of an observer who watches things carefully and calculatingly. Audacity is no exception, but potential solutions run rampant throughout. Everything from helping America grow in a global economy (instead of stubbornly fighting against it), to our detrimental health care, faith and its place in our society, and the struggles and triumphs of racial equality for all, is explored at length.
In the final chapter on family, though, I believe Obama made one of the smartest moves of his sophomore effort. His heartfelt accounts of love and admiration for his wife Michelle and the fear of repeating the absence of his own father with his two girls provides invaluable insight, where most politicians are happy to leave such intrusions at the gate of their fenced estates. As I close the book, I’m reminded of the power humility has to change the world.
All you have to do is have a little ‘hope’.
AudacityOfHope.com BarackObama.com |