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When Barack Obama first ran for president, liberals hailed him as the ideal candidate. "We didn't really care about [his] position or his views or anything," said Harry C. Alford, President and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Many of Obama's most loyal backers were gravely disappointed by the way they were treated once he became President -- and they're not afraid to say so. "We just wanted a black president," said Alford. "We should have been more careful." Veteran journalist and New York Times best-selling author Edward Klein interviewed Mr. Alford and nearly 200 other Obama friends and allies for his newest book, Klein's interview with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the Obamas' long-time pastor, is especially revealing. "Man, the media ate me alive," said Wright, referring to the ABC News broadcast of his explosive sermon rhetoric in March 2008. "After the media went ballistic on me, I received an email offering me money not to preach at all until the November presidential election. . . . It was from one of Barack's closest friends." Some of the staunchest leftists think Obama has damaged their cause through sheer incompetence. Dr. David Scheiner, the president's personal physician for twenty-two years, is unapologetic in his fight for socialized medicine -- but he told Klein the president's ObamaCare package is a disaster. "I look at his healthcare program and I can't see how it can work," he said. "The [Congressional Budget Office] said it's going to be incredibly expensive . . . and the thing that I really am worried about is, if it is the failure that I think it would be, then health reform will be set back a long, long time." Scheiner echoed the comments of many when he said, "My main objection to Barack Obama is that he is a great speaker and a lousy communicator. He isn't getting his message across to people. He isn't showing that he really cares." (Regnery Publishing Inc., 2012, 277pp., $27.95) |
The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House. His interviews reveal a president who is far from the "centrist, pragmatic, post-partisan leader that his political handlers have tried to create." Indeed, the candidate who wooed the liberal establishment with promises of "hope and change" has failed to rally even his most loyal followers for a reelection campaign. "I can't stand to hear [Obama's] voice anymore," said Caroline Kennedy, who backed Obama even when family members demanded otherwise -- "He's a liar and worse."
