An Obama Reading List

[For a post-general-election update to this list, click here.]

Everyone knows this is the most important presidential election since 1960. Are you willing to do a little homework to be sure you’ve made the right choice?

Hillary and the media say Obama is all hope and no substance. The tens of millions of people (including me) who voted for him don’t believe that for a nanosecond. Would you like to decide for yourself?

What follows is a reading list of materials by and about Obama. Except for Obama’s books, the suggested readings are short and easy to digest.

Everything in the second column was written by Obama or (in the first case) summarized by his campaign staff. If you read the material linked there, even excluding Obama’s books, you’ll know enough about him to make a rational decision, free from “spin.”

The readings in the third column are commentary, mostly my own. They also include posts from other blogs and the mainstream media. They are optional, but they provide perspective and counteract the consistent misinformation provided by the Clinton campaign and much of the mainstream media.

You should be able to read most of the listed materials in an hour or two. Are you willing to devote that much effort to making the most important electoral choice of your life?

Scroll down for the list. There are still some tricks to HTML on this site; maybe the nice folks at Google will help me again.

Issue	Obama’s Own Words	Commentary
Mortgage and Credit Crisis	Obama’s Proposals	Clinton’s proposals (my analysis)
Health Care	Obama’s Comprehensive Plan	My analysis
Fighting Terrorism	Obama’s Comprehensive Plan	My analysis Al Qaeda threat
Diplomacy and Foreign Policy	Obama’s Comprehensive Plan (Scroll down for full text)
War in Iraq	Obama’s speech on the war (five months before our invasion!)	Clinton’s record on war
Vision for the Future	2004 Keynote Speech on Unity Audacity of Hope	My analysis
Emphathy and Understanding	Dreams from My Father (esp. "Chicago," pages 133-295)	My analysis
Following is another table with links to commentary on various aspects of Obama’s character and comparisons to the Clintons and past presidents. I have to rely on commentary for these points because Obama doesn’t talk about himself much. That’s one of the many things that make me think he’ll be a good leader.
Judgment	Comparison with Clinton Comparison with JFK War and foreign policy analysis
Experience	Table of Presidents My analysis Myths about experience
Self-Restraint	My analysis (comparison with Bill)
Integrity	Comparison with the Clintons
Obama/Clinton Comparisons	Major issues & life experience Comprehensive issue overview Likely impact on policy Demonstrated leadership Political philosophy Faith and evangelicals
Following is a third table with links to selected material published from the original date of this post (2/18/08) to date.
Subject	Obama’s Own words	Commentary
Character	N.A.	Obama’s Sense of Perspective
Comparisons	N.A.	Comparing McCain and Obama Strategic Vision
Foreign Policy	National Security Speech in Richmond Interview (First) with Bill O’Reilly (Video)
Race	Obama’s Speech on Race	My Reaction
Victory	Obama’s Victory Speech

permalink