It is my pleasure to welcome Alan Kennedy-Shaffer, author of The Obama Revolution, to Cafe of Dreams today! I thank Mr. Kennedy-Shaffer for taking the time to stop by and to do a guest post! This is a wonderful and insightful post, so please sit back, relax and enjoy!!
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Writing “The Obama Revolution”
By Alan Kennedy-Shaffer
The Obama Revolution, my second book and the first book published about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign written by an organizer, includes poignant accounts of my encounters with Barack Obama and provides an in-the-trenches look at how thousands of organizers recruited millions of volunteers and new voters. In this post, I would like to take a moment to talk about how and why I wrote The Obama Revolution.
Some of my favorite parts of the book are my descriptions of personal encounters with Barack Obama, now the 44th President of the United States. Although I most frequently talk about the reactions of volunteers and voters to Obama’s inspirational words, I include an account of the first time I shook hands with Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois. Etched indelibly into my memory, my first encounter made me a believer:
“I first met Obama on May 18, 2005, in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Meeting Obama convinced me that he truly believed what he was telling the nation. He made me promise that I would do everything in my power to bring about positive change.”
This passage appears in The Obama Revolution along with many other memories of Barack Obama—the senator, the candidate, the president—from a campaign that heralded a new era of responsibility for a generation ready to meet the challenge. My hope is that The Obama Revolution will serve as both the first in-the-trenches history of the campaign and as a call to arms to a generation that must seize the opportunity to revive our nation’s economy and restore our nation’s standing in the world.
After the excitement of November 4, 2008, I admit that I did not know what to do with myself. With no more office visits, late night phone calls, and mid-day canvasses, I began to think about what the campaign meant to me. I began to jot down notes on the broader themes of the campaign, culled both from personal memory and from Obama’s defining speeches. For aspiring writers, my recommendation is to start with what you know.
Writing The Obama Revolution, I frequently found myself making connections between policy prescriptions, Obama’s rhetoric, and the nation’s future, that I did not have time to make during the 18-hour days on the campaign trail. Only in hindsight can we appreciate just how important those precious months of campaigning really are to the history and future of this great nation.
Unlike my first book, Denial and Deception: A Study of the Bush Administration’s Rhetorical Case for Invading Iraq, which was published in 2006 by a small academic non-fiction publisher, The Obama Revolution is geared toward a broad audience and ranges from my personal memories to analysis of Obama’s 50-state strategy to Obama’s best speeches. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on The Obama Revolution.
Alan Kennedy-Shaffer is the author, most recently, of “The Obama Revolution.”
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About The Obama Revolution:
The first book to be written by a campaign staffer and offering rare insider glimpses, The Obama Revolution explores how a generation of believers and the politics of hope won the presidency for Barack Obama and changed the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing “The Obama Revolution”
By Alan Kennedy-Shaffer
The Obama Revolution, my second book and the first book published about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign written by an organizer, includes poignant accounts of my encounters with Barack Obama and provides an in-the-trenches look at how thousands of organizers recruited millions of volunteers and new voters. In this post, I would like to take a moment to talk about how and why I wrote The Obama Revolution.
Some of my favorite parts of the book are my descriptions of personal encounters with Barack Obama, now the 44th President of the United States. Although I most frequently talk about the reactions of volunteers and voters to Obama’s inspirational words, I include an account of the first time I shook hands with Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois. Etched indelibly into my memory, my first encounter made me a believer:
“I first met Obama on May 18, 2005, in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Meeting Obama convinced me that he truly believed what he was telling the nation. He made me promise that I would do everything in my power to bring about positive change.”
This passage appears in The Obama Revolution along with many other memories of Barack Obama—the senator, the candidate, the president—from a campaign that heralded a new era of responsibility for a generation ready to meet the challenge. My hope is that The Obama Revolution will serve as both the first in-the-trenches history of the campaign and as a call to arms to a generation that must seize the opportunity to revive our nation’s economy and restore our nation’s standing in the world.
After the excitement of November 4, 2008, I admit that I did not know what to do with myself. With no more office visits, late night phone calls, and mid-day canvasses, I began to think about what the campaign meant to me. I began to jot down notes on the broader themes of the campaign, culled both from personal memory and from Obama’s defining speeches. For aspiring writers, my recommendation is to start with what you know.
Writing The Obama Revolution, I frequently found myself making connections between policy prescriptions, Obama’s rhetoric, and the nation’s future, that I did not have time to make during the 18-hour days on the campaign trail. Only in hindsight can we appreciate just how important those precious months of campaigning really are to the history and future of this great nation.
Unlike my first book, Denial and Deception: A Study of the Bush Administration’s Rhetorical Case for Invading Iraq, which was published in 2006 by a small academic non-fiction publisher, The Obama Revolution is geared toward a broad audience and ranges from my personal memories to analysis of Obama’s 50-state strategy to Obama’s best speeches. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on The Obama Revolution.
Alan Kennedy-Shaffer is the author, most recently, of “The Obama Revolution.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About The Obama Revolution:
The first book to be written by a campaign staffer and offering rare insider glimpses, The Obama Revolution explores how a generation of believers and the politics of hope won the presidency for Barack Obama and changed the world.
The Obama Revolution carefully examines what Obama plans to do as president, how Obama clinched the Democratic nomination and won the general election, and why Obama’s evocative rhetoric inspired millions of Americans to create a political revolution that toppled the status quo and changed the face of American politics forever.
Drawing on both first-hand campaign experience and scholarly analysis, the author delivers everything from personal stories of grass-roots organizing and grueling all-nighters to candid assessments of the Obama campaign’s strengths and weaknesses. Insightful and powerfully written The Obama Revolution offers an enlightening, annotated, documented overview of Obama’s path to the White House and what it means to every American.
Learn how Obama used policies of change, strategic vision, and the rhetoric of hope to transform the campaign into a political movement. Discover how field organizers (most under 30), using cell phones and the Internet, mobilized and energized a whole new generation of voters. Follow the author as he registers voters, spreads the word and is touched by the people he meets.
Anyone wondering whether America's flame still burns brightly needs to read this book and be inspired by the hope, the promise, and the ardor of Barack Obama and “Generation Change”—the future of America—as they work hand-in-hand to fulfill the legacy of change that is the Obama Revolution.
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About Alan Kennedy-Shaffer:
Alan Kennedy-Shaffer served as a regional field director for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party in Virginia. Educated at Yale University and William & Mary Law School, Kennedy-Shaffer is the author of Denial and Deception: A Study of the Bush Administration’s Rhetorical Case for Invading Iraq. Kennedy-Shaffer’s writings have also appeared in The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Washington Post, the Patriot-News, the Daily Press, and the Virginia Gazette. Alan lives in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. You can visit his website at http://www.alankennedy-shaffer.com
Win Prizes!
THE OBAMA REVOLUTION VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 will officially begin on April 1 and end on April 30. You can visit Alan's blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in April!
As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.
3 comments:
I imagine it was quite exciting being a part of such an inspiring campaign. President Obama certainly has his work cut out for him. Expectations are extremely high and so many people are hoping for his success while others are waiting for him to fall. It's an exciting time and it's hard not to feel hopeful. I never came in direct contact with him, but like so many others, I know he has inspired me.
Thank you for the great guest post.
This looks like an interesting book with amazing insights from up front personal experience. What a thoughtful guest post,the passion shows through.
Great to be up close to someone who becomes President. Sure you have some great memories.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
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