Review of The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

If you had any doubt that Barack Obama would run for president in 2008, read his latest work, The Audacity of Hope. His optimism for a better future pours out of every page. He successfully paints himself as a regular hardworking joe with a family man, just one of millions of Americans who strive for a better future. In other words, it’s a pedestal for which Senator Obama will launch his candidacy.

I don’t normally read books authored by superstar politicians. They are usually ghostwritten and in my eyes do not add much value to the person. For instance, George W. Bush is the author of A Charge to Keep. Does anyone actually believe he wrote this? Similarly, Hillary Clinton’s bestseller It Takes a Village to Raise a Child was also ghostwritten. In my opinion, if you can’t write a book you shouldn’t stamp your name to one.

Barack Obama, however, did not have a ghostwriter and penned the words that appear in The Audacity of Hope. His clear, concise style and the tender moments from his family life he shares bring a sense of credulity to his character. In one segment, he describes a moment where his daughter explains to him that children do not shake hands; that’s what adults do. Pages later he describes whether Ted Kennedy or John McCain had to go out to pick up ant traps after work. These moments reflect on both Senator Obama’s newbie experience as one of the upper echelons of American society and whether he will remain true to the reasons why he got involved in the first place.

In fact, the entire theme of the book is based on the disconnect between the American voter and the leadership in Washington. Private jets allow legislators to fly comfortably at least twice a week but they shelter their powerful patrons from the struggles and hardships of their constituents. Throughout his congressional campaign, Illinois voters kept telling him to never change and remain true to your humble background, a struggle that Senator Obama himself admits to as being difficult.

Mr. Obama was not born into elitism, though his impressive record challenges his humble claims. Earned a master’s degree from Columbia and a law degree from Harvard, was elected president of the Law Review by his peers, Mrs. Obama’s past is anything but average joe. He is a go-getter and would not be where he was today without his insatiable drive. The senator also claims that much from his life hasn’t changed since winning office; he still goes to the same barbershop and hangs out with the same friends. With his hat thrown into the presidential fray, I doubt life will continue as normal. The question is whether a “President Obama” will hang true to his beliefs.

I think he will. Why? It’s the color of his skin. A white man can grow up in poverty, become rich, and easily lose sight of his humble beginnings. The founders of America left Europe for upward mobility; hard work and success dictated your social status, not hereditary titles. Contemporary America, however, has replaced assumed titles with a crude substitute: race. A self-made white millionaire in America can always suppress his lower-class roots; a wealthy black man will wake up every day, look in the mirror, and see his face as one of the millions of other black men who struggle just to survive in this country. He will look around the halls of success and see white males: rich, usually old, and whose first-hand accounts are oblivious to the middle-, working- and lower-classes. Obama attests to this when he enters the Senate chamber and is the only black man present.

Though at times he can seem preachy and seeming to represent all sides to all people, Barack Obama succeeds in writing a candid piece on his views of the American philosophy and social landscape. The Audacity of Hope gets 3½ out of 5 stars.