Barack Obama, _The Audacity of Hope_

In his second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Illinois senator and Constitutional law scholar Barack Obama shares his thoughts on values, the American Constitution, politics, opportunity, faith, race, the world beyond our borders, and family. With passion, clarity, and reason, he exhorts Americans to reject the bitter partisan politics that have fractured our nation and build a country that truly prizes and protects diversity of thought. Obama states,

"I think we make a mistake in assuming that democratic deliberation requires abandonment of our highest ideals, or of a commitment to the common good. After all, the Constitution ensures our free speech, not just so we can shout at one another as loud as we please, deaf to what others might have to say (although we have that right). It also offers us the possibility of a genuine marketplace of ideas, one in which "the jarring of parties" works on behalf of "deliberation and circumspection"; a marketplace in which, through debate and competition, we can expand our perspective, change our minds, and eventually arrive not merely at agreements but at sound and fair agreements." (94)

I appreciated Obama's refreshing idealism and recommend this book for all Americans interested in cultivating a politics of unity, where shared interests transcend what divides us.