Customer Reviews

The Obama Movement: Why Barack Obama Speaks to America's Youth

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This short collection of essays by young supporters of Obama (ranging from high school students to recent college grads) provides some insight into why Barack Obama's campaign is about more than winning a campaign, and instead could build a progressive movement.

Sarah Carter (granddaughter of Jimmy Carter) offers some celebrity to the collection, and one of the best essays in the book. Unfortunately, with 25 essays spanning only 95 pages, there's not a lot of substance to most of the commentary. But it provides a diverse, readable group of essays about why Obama is so appealing to youth in America.

In my book, Barack Obama: This Improbable Quest, I write about Generation Obama and the potential of a new youth movement merged with a political campaign, and this collection is a useful introduction to that movement.

Barack Obama has, even months from the November 2008 election, come as far as any minority ever has come to capturing the presidency. "The Obama Movement: Why Barack Obama Speaks to America's Youth" is a look at Barack's explosion of popularity with the youth of America, asking various young voters throughout the country why they support Barack Obama - a segment of the voting population which is usually woefully under-represented in each election. "The Obama Movement: Why Barack Obama Speaks to America's Youth" is a deftly compiled and highly recommended addition to community library political collections.

There is a reason Obama is running for president - it's important to become educated and understand what you believe in and why...I am following this movement and I haven't even committed 100% to Obama. Everyone needs to read, research, and build on their knowledge...this is a good place to start.

The essays are nice, but that's about all you can say about them. While the idealism of these young people shines through, elections are more than about how a candidate makes you "feel." This is a critical time for our country, especially after eight years of incompetence under George W. Bush, and setting the ship aright requires more than hip talk about Youtube and Facebook. My fellow young people are interested in real policy, which is sadly lacking in this collection.