The Audacity of Hope

Finished Barack Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope, while on vacation. I was very impressed. Written two years ago, shortly after he arrived in the US Senate, it appears to me that Obama obviously had Presidential aspirations long before he announced formally in February 2007.

I enjoyed reading many of the ideas he expresses in the book. My favorite excerpts:

• The magnitude of our challenges vs the smallness of our politics.
• Politics is a mission, not a business.
• Corporate lobbyists prevail on Capitol Hill because they have better resources, better information, and more staying power than the average citizen. However, Obama describes the corporate lobbyists as a threat to democracy, while the citizens' group is the essence of it.
• The single most important factor in a student's performance is the teacher.
• Faith doesn't mean you don't have doubts.
• I'm more prone to empathize with those who are outraged by homelessness, rather than those outraged by music videos.

I particularly like his thoughts on the media. He points out, quite accurately, that today's media are not interested in poring over the complexities of subjects and objectively arriving at the facts. Rather, on almost any story, reporters will seek to highlight the conflicting views held. No matter the subject, both sides are given equal weight, without any vetting done by the reporter. This type of lazy journalism results in the public legitimacy of all sorts of flawed arguments.

I experience this every day. As a portfolio manager and market analyst, it's oftentimes very frustrating to read or watch something in the press that you know is false, or is at best misleading when read with an understanding of the facts. Obama's open frustration to his reader--the lack of a source of "independent analysis"-- is a frustration I share.

Perhaps more importantly for me, however, is his open admission that "faith doesn't mean you don't have doubts". I share that view. One doubt he doesn't have-- the Golden Rule is an absolute truth. I share that view too.

Obama touches on many issues in his book that he has made public over the course of his long campaign:

• pay for performance regarding teacher salaries
• expansion of Earned Income tax Credit
• preservation of estate tax
• adherence to Geneva Convention
• pursuit of Kyoto Protocol
• increased government grants for basic science research
• adoption of universal health care
• enforcement of equal opportunity laws in housing, education and employment

In summary, I am very close to Obama on many of his ideas and priorities. I found his book to be very thoughtful, and at times inspiring. And I thought he made a great acceptance speech last week at the Democratic Convention.

I loaned the book to my mother-in-law this past weekend. I'm now starting John McCain's book, Faith of My Fathers.