Chicago Tribune: Obama launches book clubs to win over voters
By John McCormick
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 12, 2007
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Stealing a page from Oprah Winfrey -- his close friend and fellow Chicago celebrity -- Sen. Barack Obama launched book clubs in a dozen New Hampshire towns and online this week.
His life story is the first topic of discussion.
With their assigned reading being "Dreams from My Father," Obama's best-selling memoir that has become his unofficial campaign handbook, a small group of his followers settled in at the SecondRun used bookstore in this coastal city for a two-hour discussion.
The Portsmouth gathering was amid an initial round of meetings Tuesday evening that is part of a new campaign initiative meant to better inform people about Obama and build interest in his presidential bid.
"We're doing this because people don't really know him very well," said Christine Davidson, a freelance writer and editor from Portsmouth who led the discussion. "You get to know him in this book."
Book club participants will also be able to dial into conference calls throughout the summer with significant figures from his life. Mike Kruglik, from Obama's Chicago community organizing days, for example, made a personal appearance in the state last week to promote the club....
***
The Obama effort is one of the campaign's more creative ways to push his biography, something his operatives feel is one of his biggest selling points and something they hope will help counter the notion that he lacks enough experience to lead the nation....
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-bookclub_12jul12,1,2990842.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
