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First Obama attack book in the works
Jonathan MartinMon Jun 23, 1:25 AM ET
The same publisher that distributed the 2004 best-seller that took aim at John Kerry’s Vietnam service is planning a summer release of what’s scheduled to be the first critical book on Barack Obama.
Conservative journalist David Freddoso’s “The Case Against Barack Obama” will offer “a comprehensive, factual look at Obama,” according to Regnery Publishing president and publisher Marjory Ross.
But the book’s subtitle makes clear its perspective: “The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media’s Favorite Candidate.”
Ross contends that the mainstream media has offered insufficient scrutiny of Obama and likens the goal of Freddoso’s book to that of “Unfit for Command,” the scathing assessment of Kerry’s war record that rocketed to No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list.
By highlighting negative aspects of Obama’s record and background, Ross says, Freddoso may compel others to offer more critical coverage of the Democratic nominee.
“I think it’s critically important that the country gets a clear and honest view of who is running and what they stand for — warts and all,” Ross says. “With ‘Unfit for Command,’ like ‘The Case against Barack Obama,’ we believe the media has whitewashed the candidate.”
But unlike the Kerry book, which was co-authored by a fellow Swift Boat veteran and focused exclusively on the Massachusetts senator’s actions in Vietnam and immediately after, “The Case Against Barack Obama” aspires to be a full-length political biography.
Freddoso has taken a leave from his job with National Review Online — where he has written posts with titles such as “Obama’s Problem with the Truth” — to write the book, which is scheduled to be published on Aug. 4. A former writer for Human Events, Freddoso learned shoe-leather reporting at the knee of syndicated conservative columnist Robert D. Novak, for whom he worked as a political reporter on the “Evans-Novak Political Report.”
Freddoso’s book is being promoted by the well-connected conservative public relations firm Creative Response Concepts. The firm, headed by former GOP operative Greg Mueller, also handled publicity for “Unfit for Command” and media relations for the 527 group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which in 2004 ran widely covered television advertisements featuring veterans who had served in Vietnam with Kerry, criticizing his conduct and character and claiming he had exaggerated his war record.
Ross declined to share any exclusive details of Freddoso’s reporting since the manuscript hasn’t been filed yet, but said the 31-year-old journalist has material from Obama’s days in Chicago, Springfield, Ill., and Washington, D.C.
In an effort to tarnish his cultivated image as a reformer, the book will examine Obama’s relationship with members of the Windy City’s vaunted politician machine, including Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Freddoso also will probe Obama’s ties to more radical Chicago figures including the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, and William Ayers, the Hyde Park resident and former Weatherman.
Moving to the national stage, the book will argue that Obama’s political views are far to the left of the mainstream. “He’s the No. 1 most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, and nobody has really examined his record,” says Ross.
Unlike his primary rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, there is no canon of negative books about Obama. Thanks to his rapid rise on the national political scene, the two most influential books devoted to his life were written by Obama himself, who hardly counts as a disinterested observer.
“Dreams From My Father” chronicles his youth and search for identity, while “The Audacity of Hope” is a more political tome, detailing his issue positions.
Aside from these two books, the only other substantive volume on Obama is Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendell’s “From Promise to Power,” published in 2007.
Also due out this summer is a mostly positive look at “The Faith of Barack Obama,” by the best-selling author of “The Faith of George Bush.” And a critical analysis of the Democratic nominee, called “The Obama Nation,” will be published on Simon & Schuster’s Threshold Editions imprint and is also due out in August. The book is by Jerome Corsi, who helped Kerry critic and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth co-founder John O’Neill write “Unfit for Command.”
Says Ross, "The more people fall in love with a candidate, the more they need to know their track record and their real stand on issues."
Jonathan MartinMon Jun 23, 1:25 AM ET
The same publisher that distributed the 2004 best-seller that took aim at John Kerry’s Vietnam service is planning a summer release of what’s scheduled to be the first critical book on Barack Obama.
Conservative journalist David Freddoso’s “The Case Against Barack Obama” will offer “a comprehensive, factual look at Obama,” according to Regnery Publishing president and publisher Marjory Ross.
But the book’s subtitle makes clear its perspective: “The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media’s Favorite Candidate.”
Ross contends that the mainstream media has offered insufficient scrutiny of Obama and likens the goal of Freddoso’s book to that of “Unfit for Command,” the scathing assessment of Kerry’s war record that rocketed to No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list.
By highlighting negative aspects of Obama’s record and background, Ross says, Freddoso may compel others to offer more critical coverage of the Democratic nominee.
“I think it’s critically important that the country gets a clear and honest view of who is running and what they stand for — warts and all,” Ross says. “With ‘Unfit for Command,’ like ‘The Case against Barack Obama,’ we believe the media has whitewashed the candidate.”
But unlike the Kerry book, which was co-authored by a fellow Swift Boat veteran and focused exclusively on the Massachusetts senator’s actions in Vietnam and immediately after, “The Case Against Barack Obama” aspires to be a full-length political biography.
Freddoso has taken a leave from his job with National Review Online — where he has written posts with titles such as “Obama’s Problem with the Truth” — to write the book, which is scheduled to be published on Aug. 4. A former writer for Human Events, Freddoso learned shoe-leather reporting at the knee of syndicated conservative columnist Robert D. Novak, for whom he worked as a political reporter on the “Evans-Novak Political Report.”
Freddoso’s book is being promoted by the well-connected conservative public relations firm Creative Response Concepts. The firm, headed by former GOP operative Greg Mueller, also handled publicity for “Unfit for Command” and media relations for the 527 group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which in 2004 ran widely covered television advertisements featuring veterans who had served in Vietnam with Kerry, criticizing his conduct and character and claiming he had exaggerated his war record.
Ross declined to share any exclusive details of Freddoso’s reporting since the manuscript hasn’t been filed yet, but said the 31-year-old journalist has material from Obama’s days in Chicago, Springfield, Ill., and Washington, D.C.
In an effort to tarnish his cultivated image as a reformer, the book will examine Obama’s relationship with members of the Windy City’s vaunted politician machine, including Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Freddoso also will probe Obama’s ties to more radical Chicago figures including the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, and William Ayers, the Hyde Park resident and former Weatherman.
Moving to the national stage, the book will argue that Obama’s political views are far to the left of the mainstream. “He’s the No. 1 most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, and nobody has really examined his record,” says Ross.
Unlike his primary rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, there is no canon of negative books about Obama. Thanks to his rapid rise on the national political scene, the two most influential books devoted to his life were written by Obama himself, who hardly counts as a disinterested observer.
“Dreams From My Father” chronicles his youth and search for identity, while “The Audacity of Hope” is a more political tome, detailing his issue positions.
Aside from these two books, the only other substantive volume on Obama is Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendell’s “From Promise to Power,” published in 2007.
Also due out this summer is a mostly positive look at “The Faith of Barack Obama,” by the best-selling author of “The Faith of George Bush.” And a critical analysis of the Democratic nominee, called “The Obama Nation,” will be published on Simon & Schuster’s Threshold Editions imprint and is also due out in August. The book is by Jerome Corsi, who helped Kerry critic and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth co-founder John O’Neill write “Unfit for Command.”
Says Ross, "The more people fall in love with a candidate, the more they need to know their track record and their real stand on issues."
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