Jaded Sage:

I read lots of history and political science books. In fact, I haven’t read a book of fiction in about 10 years. I seldom read books written by politicians or agenda driven hacks such as Limbaugh, Carville or O’Reilly. My dad bought me Obama’s last book, The Audacity of Hope, and I read it. I figured if I am going to vote for the guy I would like to know how the guy thinks. It is a great book not just because I agree with him on most issues but because the book is written with a calm practicality. This is why I tell people who are negatively affected by Obama’s preacher to read Obama’s book or listen to the temperament with which he speaks.

Recently I learned Barack Obama’s favorite book is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, a book about Abraham Lincoln and those who first ran against him in the Republican Party and then were brought in to assist Lincoln in America’s greatest challenge during the 19th Century. I wanted to know why Obama chose this book to lead his list. Though I am early into the book I quickly realized why the Illinois senator coveted this book beyond the fact Lincoln was a senator from the same state. Goodwin writes as she refers to Abraham Lincoln in his primary run in 1860:

…in an age when speech-making prowess was central to political success, when the spoken word filled the air “from sun-up til sundown”, “Lincoln’s stirring oratory had earned the admiration of a far flung-audience who had either heard him speak or read his speeches in the paper.

Goodwin later continues:

…Lincoln clearly understood that he was “new in the field,” that outside of Illinois he was not “the first choice of a very great many.” His political experience on the national level consisted of two failed Senate races and a single term in Congress that had come to an end nearly a dozen years earlier. By contrast, the three other contenders for the nomination were household names in Republican circles.

If you can get your hands on a copy of Team of Rivals and enjoy reading detailed history, do so. The depth at which Goodwin paints Lincoln and those who would fill out his cabinet is astonishing. Whether Obama has a fraction of the ability of Lincoln is to be seen, but the fact that he is reading his history and learning from the greats should give comfort to many. 

I leave you with an excerpt from a campaign rally in the capital of Oregon yesterday. Listen to the manner and dignity with which Obama answers the woman’s question. With how big a brush would you like to paint Obama’s relationship with his pastor when you hear this?