Yes We Can! Speeches of Barack Obama, Expanded Edition Book

I am not a big fan of politics, but I do enjoy reading about topics related to demographics. I bought this book a while back on a whim, as I was curious to know how shifts in demographics in certain states might have played a role in the outcome of the 2008 presidential election. After not touching it for several months, I eventually decided that I should read the book before it became outdated and irrelevant.

Overall, I don't think the book provides any major revelations on how Barack Obama won the election in 2008. There had a been a sea change in the general public's sentiment towards President Bush and his administration in the prior eight years leading up to the election. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out that we were headed towards a change in the party in power in the White House. The book, through careful analysis, attempts to detail the shifts in the way various demographic segments in each state voted and how that ultimately translated to a victory for Obama in 2008. I think the book does a fairly good job of this, despite the fact that many of the results were just not that difficult to explain. Blue states stayed blue (or turned bluer), and likewise, most of the red states stayed true to form. However, I think the overall mood of discontentedness around the country permeated all but the most conservative of demographic segments in the electorate, and this manifested itself in the election results.

My personal opinion is that, we face now, and will always face, challenges in this country. Things are not ever going to be perfect. Over time, voters tend to become unhappy with the status quo, at which time they revert back to voting for the party that is not in power, thinking that is the necessary solution. This generally happens every 8 to 12 years. I think it happened in 2008, and I think it will happen again in 4 or 8 years. Just like clockwork.