Obama's Odyssey
Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House, Vol.1: Caucus to Convention
Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House is a reporter’s-eye view of events unfolding in 2007 and 2008 as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Christopher Dodd, Bill Richardson (et al.) jockeyed for position for the Democratic nomination for president, while John McCain, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and others attempted to wrest control of the Republican nomination for their party. All ran for President in a wide-open free-for-all following the end of George W. Bush’s 8 years in office.
Author Connie (Corcoran) Wilson, a veteran reporter for five newspapers and numerous blogs, followed the candidates from the Iowa caucuses all the way through to the convention (Volume I) and, after that, from the convention through the tumultuous presidential campaign itself (Volume II), until President Barack Obama’s Inauguration as the 44th President of the United States in January of 2009 (covered in Volume II). Writing as a member of the Yahoo Content Contributors’ Network, retired sixty-something schoolteacher Wilson set off on an adventurous odyssey of her own that earned her the title 2008 Content Producer of the Year for Politics with 1,000 articles that garnered over three million hits. Filing three articles daily from the field, her adventures inside the Democratic National Convention in Denver, the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, the Ron Paul Rally for the Republic in Minneapolis, the Belmont Town Hall Meeting in Nashville or elsewhere (Florida, Nevada, etc.) are detailed, insightful and, at times, humorous.
The parallels and insights gleaned from following the presidential campaign in 2008 provide useful background material for the presidential race of 2016 now underway–with some of the same candidates that ran 8 years ago in the field again today. Never one to ignore an amusing anecdote or photo, the quotes, facts and polling data are only one small component of an engrossing read with multiple pictures that sum up the end of an era in presidential campaigns as the use of the Internet and the increasing importance of money in campaigning are clearly cataloged. An entertaining, informative and relevant slice of recent history.
Connie Wilson –
“Obama’s Odyssey acts as a salient reminder of how Obama clenched the 2008 democratic primary nomination. With our current primary well under way, I couldn’t think of a better thing to read to refresh my memory of the last one and compare/contrast the events unfolding this time around. The author, Connie Wilson, possesses a unique and humorous style that expertly comments on the 2008 race. The book is like a scrapbook in chronological order of the different experiences she had on the campaign trail. You get a real sense of the mood and tone of each stop and Wilson manages to cull out a main takeaway from each.” – Andrea Davis
“Taken together, these blog entries provide a unique persepective on the political process in America from the point of view of an ordinary citizen. Among the day to day impressions of the campaign, there are some true gems. In one entry, Ms. Wilson compares the relative wealth of the 2008 candidates. Not surprisingly, Barack Obama was a relative pauper compared to the rest of the field. Personally, I found it encouraging that money is not the only factor in the selection of a president, even in today’s world.” – Paul Holler
“Wilson has an exceptional perspective in this book making it easily on the “must read” category. The way that this account is written really makes you re-live the entire situation and gives an insider look at what pushed Obama into the White House and ultimately forced Hillary to lose the nomination. The blog entries are easy to read and are all in a chronological order really enforcing the re-living of the event in your mind. Having lived through this, as most of you certainly did as well, it was enjoyable to see the perspective of Wilson as well. Absolutely brilliant recanting story of the campaign trail.” – Michael Anderson
“I truly enjoyed this book! My favorite part of the book was the introduction, where Connie Wilson used more of her wit and wove a more personal connection. The book did move a little quick through the meat of the information, but I do understand that if she were to do it any other way the book would have been thousands of pages long. I loved the way that I as a reader was taken behind the scenes of the political process. This is exactly the way I would love to be following an election. Thank you Connie for this wonderful journey!” – SeesBeyond