It is not as fine a book as DREAMS OF MY FATHER. That kind of soul-searching can be done only once. That book indeed was a coming of age saga as a young man searched for his rightful place in the world. This is the words of the same man, now older and launched, who having found the right place now seeks for the right lever to move the world. One will not find ideology here, only the thoughts of a pragmatic man meditating on what he finds and how it ought to be.

Like many people I read this book for clues as to what direction this ambitious politician would take were his ambitions be realized. I found nothing that alarmed me but nothing to hang a label on either. Then in the middle of the book, the author speaks of his mother: her lack of faith in organized religions, her passion for justice, her appreciation for the wonder of life. This section begins on page 202 of the first edition hardback and at the bottom of the page 205 I found my answer:

“My fierce ambitions might have been fueled by my father–by my knowledge of his achievements and failures, by my unspoken desire to somehow earn his love…But it was my mother’s fundamental faith–in the goodness of people and in the ultimate value of this brief life we’ve each been given–that channeled those ambitions. It was in search of confirmation of her values that I studied political philosophy, looking for both a language and systems of action that could help build community and make justice real. And it was in search of some practical application of those values that I accepted work after college as a community organizer for a group of churches…”

That statement puts Barack Obama squarely in the mainstream of American thought–our history is full of such idealists and ideas for forming a more perfect union. The great strength of the American experiment is that it produces such men and women, every so often, to renew the tapestry of our public life. As of this writing, we do not know if Senator Obama will succeed in his effort to become President, but from this reading it is apparent that he will be affecting the course of American political life for years to come.