Yes we (still) can Politics in the age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump

FOR LIBERALS, progressives and Democrats, the year and a half since Donald Trump was inaugurated as president has been a debilitating emotional roller coaster ride. The president's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, the rolling back of environmental regulations, the separation of immigrant families at the border and the detention of children in cages: The litany of outrages has caused anger, sadness and a Trump Tower-size amount of spluttering indignation. The title of Dan Pfeiffer's new book about his years as a senior adviser to Barack Obama suggests all may not be lost for those despairing at the current inhabitant of the White House. "Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter and Trump" is not a history of the Obama administration, Pfeiffer is at pains to point out, nor is it a juicy "tell all" - because, he says saltily, he is not a terrible person. Instead, he bills his book as a sort of road map for the future, an attempt "to better understand the current state of politics and look at where we go from here." I'm not sure he achieves this goal because he doesn't seem to have grasped the magnitude of the change that swept America in the election of November 2016 - a result arguably as radical as the one in 2008, when Barack Obama was elected the country's first black president. Trump's win by a comfortable margin in the Electoral College (albeit not the popular vote) showed that a large number of Americans had no qualms about voting for someone who had made explicitly misogynistic and racist comments. Indeed, racial divisiveness, whether in talking about banning Muslims or building a wall to keep out Mexican immigrants, was central to Trump's campaign and clearly a draw for many voters. None of the books I've read since the election have considered what this means or says about America in 2018. There have been endless analyses of the campaign itself while the press has devoted its attention to breathless reporting on the possibility of collusion with Russia and the latest sensational developments from Robert Mueller's investigation. Yet there has been a tectonic shift in America: The unsayable is now regularly said, and often by the commander in chief himself. If, as expected, Trump runs again in 2020, his opponent will have to find a way to eat into his support if he or she is to retake the White House. Pfeiffer advocates taking the high ground. "Hate worked for him; it won't work for us," he writes. "It requires being audacious, authentic and inspirational." In other words, be like Obama. Still, he remains optimistic. Democrats, he says, lost sight of the most important aspect of a successful campaign: "No matter how precise the data or advanced the technology, campaigns will always be decided by who tells a more compelling story about America." He lists five "building blocks" for a successful campaign - attitude, scaling, culture, strategy and branding - but neglects to mention policy positions. (When did policy become secondary to branding? And did anyone tell Bernie Sanders?) Obama acolytes, and there are still plenty of those, will enjoy the book's anecdotes from inside the White House, like the time Pfeiffer's pants split during a meeting in the Oval Office. Or his account of sending an ill-advised tweet from a hospital bed as anesthesia was kicking in. Readers seeking to understand how the optimism of the Obama era gave way to the darkness of Trump's vision of America First may be left wanting. These days Pfeiffer is a presenter on Pod Save America, the successful podcast he co-hosts with his fellow Obama administration alumnus Jon Favreau. Theirs is a sunny view of America and its politics, and why not: Hope, after all, was the animating force behind Obama's 2008 victory. But many Obama voters in Rust Belt states voted for Trump rather than Hillary Clinton in 2016, a confounding and inexplicable outcome that suggests Democrats seeking to retake the White House in 2020 will need more than a candidate with a nice story to tell. Matthew GARRAHAN is global media editor for The Financial Times. 'Hate worked for him; it won't work for us/

Pfeiffer, Pod Save America cohost and former Obama senior adviser, in an entertaining work of memoir-cum-political strategy, spells out the strengths of his old boss as campaigner and president and seeks to shed light on why Donald Trump won in 2016. With the goal of ensuring the liberal cause isn't lost in future elections, Pfeiffer describes how he was hired by Obama during the 2008 campaign and how for the next six years he had a front-row seat to the president's triumphs and struggles. Taking a conversational, occasionally snarky tone, he brings the reader into high-level meetings, such as one over tax cuts held in the vice-president's office; a fund-raiser attended by Kanye West; and his own awkward moments (he once split his pants in the Oval Office while preparing the president for a press conference). Throughout, Pfeiffer offers advice in bold type, based on the successes of Obama and Trump, on running a winning campaign, using Twitter, dealing with fake news, and other topics crucial to elections. "The path back for Democrats is pretty clear," he writes, "and it doesn't mean becoming more like Trump." Those who share Pfeiffer's admiration of Obama and his hopes for a Democratic resurgence-and, of course, fans of his podcast-will love both the chatty insider anecdotes and the advice. Agent: David Larabell, Creative Arts Agency. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Another Barack Obama staffer reveals his White House experiences.During his campaign for the presidency and his two terms in office, Obama gathered a cadre of young, articulate, and apparently tireless men and women to serve him. In his debut memoir, Pfeiffer, now co-host of the political podcast Pod Save America, recounts his stints as Obama's traveling secretary during the campaign and later director of communications (2009-2013) and senior adviser (until 2015). The author's warm, affectionate portrait of Obama and revelations about pre-Trumpian politics complement recent memoirs by Alyssa Mastromonaco (deputy chief of staff), David Litt (speechwriter), Pat Cunnane (senior writer), and David Axelrod (political adviser) in what appears to be a growing genre. Pfeiffer, an unabashed admirer, burnishes a familiar image of Obama as focused, idealistic, pragmatic, funny, caring, shrewd, savvy, and confidently competitive. "Obama does not like to lose at anything," writes the author, "golf, basketball, cards, Scrabble, and most certainly campaigns." The author disputes the notion that Obama was aloof: "He is a truly decent and empathetic human who genuinely liked being around people (less so members of Congress angling for a photo and a pork barrel project)." He was challenged, though, by a Republican Congress determined to thwart every effort and policy decision and from a vicious media firestormeagerly propagated by Foxover his place of birth. "If you want to know why nativism and racism are resurgent in the Republican Party," the author writes, "look to Fox News. And if you want to know how we ended up with Trump as president, yet again just look to Fox News." Part of Pfeiffer's motivation in writing is to encourage votersespecially millennials"to knock the GOP upside the head and convince them that they have to abandon not just Trump but Trumpism." The current Republican Party is composed of "clowns, con men, and racists" and those who enable them, such as "diabolical" and "cynical" Mitch McConnell. Pfeiffer argues that a new path requires Democrats to be "audacious, authentic, and inspirational."A nostalgic look back and hopeful look forward. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.