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On Friday,
August 22, when Barack Obama announced that Senator Joe Biden
would be the vice-presidential candidate, Biden's literary
stock shot through the roof. Biden's 2007 memoir, Promises
to Keep, became a red-hot property. Within hours of his
candidacy, online booksellers sold out of Biden's book. On
Monday, August 25, publisher Random House announced it was
rushing to print 100,000 paperback copies, which it would
have in stores by Thursday, August 28, in time for the last
day of the Democratic National Convention.
 But
not all politicians are trying to get elected president. Some
use books to reshape their images. John Kerry, following Al
Gore's attempts at recasting himself as an above-the-fray
elder statesman, released This Moment on Earth, a look
at the environmental movement. Nancy Pelosi, who followed
her father into Congress and became the first female Speaker
of the House—making her, arguably, the single most powerful
woman in America—wisely built on the historical nature
of her achievements with Know Your Power: A Message to
America's Daughters.
An important
thing to note when reading political books is that, for the
most part, politicians are preaching to choir when they write.
Let's face it: Someone who loves George W. Bush is not going
to pick up Nancy Pelosi's memoir and read it with an objective,
unbiased eye, regardless of how empowering her message is
to young women. More likely will be the partisan voter who's
shopping around for a candidate within his or her own party
(which, at this point in the political process, is moot).
These books are sales pitches to the party faithful.
If a
reader is truly uncommitted, they're probably going to pick
up something other than a political memoir to read; if they're
interested enough in politics to devote the time a book requires,
then chances are, they've already formulated some opinions
on those politics. In a way, it's kind of a shame. After all,
this year's two presidential candidates are two of the strongest
literary talents in decades.
John McCain honestly seems to enjoy writing. He doesn't need
to do it for the money (although he does certainly do it for
the publicity). His first book, Faith of My Fathers,
co-authored with staffer Mark Salter, appeared on August 31,
1999—a convenient five months prior to the 2000 New Hampshire
presidential primary. But McCain's book turned out to be far
different than the traditional political song-and-dance most
people expected. It turned out to be good. Really good. "[A]n
astonishing exception to the rule," one reviewer said. Critics
gave the book almost universal praise, calling it "eloquent,"
"restrained and honest," and "candid, moving, and entertaining."
 McCain
focused not on his political career but on a pair of personal
stories that readers of all political persuasions would find
compelling. McCain focused first on the story of his father
and grandfather, the first father-son tandem in the history
of the navy to both achieve the rank of admiral. He also told
the story of his five and a half years as a P.O.W. in Vietnam.
"McCain carefully avoids the pitfalls of self-promotion, knowing
that he has a larger, more interesting story to tell than
merely why he wants to be president," said Publisher's
Weekly.
The McCain/Salter
Book Machine has since turned out a book every few years.
The follow-up to the first, 2002's Worth the Fighting For,
picked up where Fathers left off and covered McCain's
life in politics. By that point, it was obvious to political
observers that McCain already considered himself a candidate
for the 2008 presidential race, and his second book proved
to be a useful tool for shaping and reshaping his political
image. Despite the political motives, McCain again put forth
a literary effort solid enough to surprise critics.
His next
book, Why Courage Matters: A Way to a Braver Life,
published in 2004, got dreamy and philosophical in ways that
clashed with McCain's style. He then ventured, in William
Bennett-esque fashion, to create his own Book of Virtues,
which he called Character is Destiny: Inspiring Stories
Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember.
(Frankly, I'm not sure how many kids can easily wrap their
head around the phrase "Character is Destiny.")
His most
recent attempt at authorship was this year's Hard Call:
The Art of Great Decisions. Written in a presidential
election year by someone considered to be one of the front-runners,
Hard Call could have easily been another political
screed—albeit a well-written one—dressed up as an
attempt to sound brainy about historical matters. But Hard
Call, with Lincoln on the dust jacket of the hardcover
edition and a red-white-and-blue color scheme on the trade
paperback, is more evocative of JFK's Profiles.
Without
actually talking about his support of the Iraq War, Hard
Call let McCain frame the topic on the campaign trail
in a way that, he hoped, would defuse an issue that had the
potential to dog him. However, McCain plainly wore his presidential
ambitions on his sleeve when he wrote the book, as evidenced
by its original subtitle: "Great Decisions and the Extraordinary
People Who Made Them." McCain's implication is pretty clear:
He is willing and able to make the tough decisions when the
time comes.
 While
John McCain has the faith of his fathers, Barack Obama has
the dreams from his. Dreams from My Father: A Story of
Race and Inheritance, written in Obama's pre-political
life in 1995, offers a look at "the stories of a family trying
to explain itself." The son of a white American mother and
a black African father, Obama spent much of his life trying
to understand his "divided inheritance." The resulting quest
is a story every bit as compelling as McCain's story, although
the social context is entirely different. While Obama has
made an effort not to make race a part of his presidential
bid, Dreams demonstrates just how conscious he is of
the issue. Obama's writing is rhythmic and lyrical. There's
art to Dreams.
He began
writing his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope, shortly
after his election to the Senate in 2004. That fall, he had
been introduced to the nation courtesy of a high-profile keynote
address at the Democratic National Convention. He was very
much aware that he stood in the spotlight.
And so,
when he wrote Audacity, Obama wrote his game plan for
fixing a broken government by speaking to the "common hopes,
common dreams" all Americans share. While there isn't a captivating
narrative to hold the book together the way there is in Dreams,
there is a powerful overriding vision. Audacity feels
more conversational in style than Dreams, yet with
impressive rhetorical mastery, Obama's language manages to
be inspirational, as well. Political opponents have derided
Obama's "fancy speeches"—but Audacity provides
depth to the vision he so often articulates in those speeches.
It offers both style and substance.
With Election Day only two months away, there's still plenty
of time to turn off the TV, tune out the soundbites, and pick
up a book. Both candidates have written some interesting,
worthwhile material, and both encourage thoughtful engagement
and consideration.
For my
part, that thoughtful writing by each candidate has probably
done more to reassure me, as a voter, about the future of
our country than anything I've heard either candidate say.
I get easily annoyed by the name-calling and attack-dog tactics
that I've seen unleashed in the media day after day. That
sort of behavior doesn't serve the electoral process well
at all, and it doesn't help me as a voter one single bit.
And while
some politicians may be writing with voices that demand to
be heard at the moment—or demand to be heard so they
can have their moment—other politicians have written
pieces that will, I believe, endure. McCain's Faith of
My Fathers and Obama's Dreams from My Father are
likely to be two such works.
The savvy
politician may be able to get his or her voice heard today,
but the wise politician knows that words uttered just for
today, regardless of the form, will be gone tomorrow. Better
are the words that can have lasting impact and influence,
and with a touch of literary flair, those politicians can
create those kinds of words and tell those kinds of stories.
As that
wisest and savviest of British politicians, Winston Churchill,
once said, "History will be kind to me for I intend to write
it."
A reader
willing to sift through the political hackwork will assuredly
find some words that will endure. And the electoral process
just may be better off because of it.
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