What We're Reading: Revival by Richard Wolffe

December 2010: Revival by Richard Wolffe

After a pretty bruising election (I was working out in Nevada with our ElectEquality candidate Dina Titus’ campaign), I needed a book that would revive my spirit, my commitment to the party and the work we all do daily to advance the rights of the LGBT community.

A friend recommended Revival by Richard Wolffe.  I was skeptical at first.  I am a true loyalist, but my disappointment on how the Administration and Congress handled LGBT issues began to shake my party loyalty.  Especially since, this past year on the policy front we weren’t seeing any substantive movement on major LGBT rights legislation. (Note: Of course, this was all before DADT repeal passed as a standalone bill).

I was beginning to feel like our community was the political ploy that the religious right claims we are - you know, that wedge that drives the conservative base to the polls. This past election, I began to see why my friends felt that we were no longer that consistent progressive voting bloc I believe our community to be.  Why else would organizations like the Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud begin to get so much press time? Frustrated, I turned to this book as a way to uplift my personal spirits and commitment to our party's progressive values. In my mind, I felt a similar connection to the urgency of the title and the need to revive my soul and our party. 

I picked up Revival and was immidaitely thrown back into the early stages of the current Administration. This time period was critical to the White House and progressive politics.  When reading Revival,  you get a sense that you're in the room when important decisions are being made. I will tell you - Revival is difficult to put down.  If you’re a true follower of progressive politics, an opinionated outsider uninterested in the “politics of the beltway”, someone who is questioning the true values of our current president, or just a political junky who can’t seem to shy away from MSNBC - this book will pull you back into the political fray. 

Wolffe does an exemplary job covering the inner workings and personalities in the White House and Congress.  Whether you are interested in why the possibility of losing the Massachusetts Senate seat flew under the radar for so long, how the President managed the healthcare debate, or what the emotional response to the Haiti earthquake, Wolffe fills in the void that the biased media outlets left out or completely failed to mention.

The reason to read Revival is simple: if you want to truly understand the last two years of the Obama Presidency – no other book will fill in the gaps like Revival.  To get the real, insider facts explaining the White House and the Obama Administration: read Revival.