Woodward's Book

This book isn't getting the coverage it deserves, which isn't really surprising since it makes O look like a totally weak sister.  (Remember the breathless coverage of Scott McClellan's book criticizing the Bush Administration?)    I could hardly put this one down, and encourage you all to read it.

There are some revealing passages on the character of some major players that may surprise you:  Mitch McConnell is not disagreeable, he's open to (and eminently capable of) compromise & negotiation, Harry Reid doesn't have much use for Obama's negotiating tactics, and Joe Biden is pretty skilled at the old-school pol game.  (Biden and Cantor actually have a good relationship...at one point, Biden told Cantor if he were in charge, things would be handled differently.)   Not surprising:  O wildly overestimates his skill in bringing people together, Valerie Jarrett is both clueless and insufferable, and Nancy Pelosi is a total moron (though I almost laughed out loud when encountering instances where both she and Reid completely blew off the President).

It spent a little too much time on the debt debacle, but did offer some background on the construction of the stimulus and some priceless tales on O's tortured relationship with the business community.  You'll find yourself wondering for the millionth time how this man got into this position and how he could have such a deficit of the interpersonal skills required of this job.   You could not possibly be disappointed in this book.

I do wonder how Woodward will fare on the Georgetown cocktail party circuit.