When Barack Obama gave the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, With tears in my eyes, I predicted aloud that this man would be President someday. Rereading those words today, with tears in my eyes, I still feel hope.

This book is about the events leading up the the most recent U.S. presidential election, moving back and forth between the offices of the various people involved. So far, this book is not a typical political analysis, or a giant op-ed piece. In fact, it reads like fiction (I have read through Chapter 4), in that it tells the story in third person, as a story instead of a news article, usually with am omniscient voice – we hear what all of the key players are thinking, without being told whether these insights came to the authors through interviews or if they are merely guessing. For example, when Hillary Clinton is deciding whether to run for president in 2004, she gathers her inner circle together and decides not to enter the race because her daughter has objections to the idea. Later, when she does decide to run in 2008, we are privy to the inner thoughts of Bill Clinton, who alone has private concerns that Barack Obama might change his mind and enter the race.

Hillary Clinton is depicted as a hard person, a career politician who only makes decisions based on the potential to increase her status and position; she is also shown to as deadly when she has been wounded or embarrassed. Barack Obama is confident to the point of being cocky, and yet he does not make a decision without the support of his wife – her opinion matters to him more than that of anyone else. We haven’t heard too much about the members of the opposing team, other than that no one seems to like George W. Bush.

By the end of Chapter 4, Barack and Hillary are both in the race, and are amassing friends and resources to help them win. It was entertaining to read the process each one uses to decide how to proceed. I don’t know how this book was researched, but the authors have obviously taken some creative license – I will not be convinced that they had the willing cooperation of every single person involved in both campaigns, which would have been necessary to arrive at this amount of detail. So, while I know that there is probably some truth in this book, I am not going to form any political opinions based on what I read. I’ll consider it a work of historical fiction, and reserve the right to change my mind as I read on.

Which brings me to a point I would like to make: When a person in power changes her mind, it does not necessarily make her a “flip-flopper,” it might mean that she continually analyzes her course based on new and relevant information – in other words, it might mean that she is an effective leader.

Also, it takes a certain level of arrogance to want to be the president of a super-power. It annoys me that Hillary Clinton (and other women, but she is the only one who has gotten close to achieving the U.S. presidency) is depicted as a b***h because she is a strong woman. Some say that women do not have the personality necessary to lead this country – I think that’s because we punish women who DO have it, and we try to socialize it out of our daughters.

Here is a sample of President Obama’s speech, given six years ago. Come on, President Obama – I still have faith in you:

People don’t expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice…. It is that fundamental belief — it is that fundamental belief — I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper — that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family: “E pluribus unum,” out of many, one….

Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope?…I’m not talking about blind optimism here, the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it, or health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it.

That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better days ahead.

Other posts about Game Change:

Post 1: Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
Post 2: Political Games and Gridlock
Post 3: Game Change, Indeed
Post 4: Religion and Sex – That’s Politics