Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House by Connie Corcoran Wilson

My Thoughts

Connie Corcoran Wilson was a journalist with Yahoo back when they had independent journalists.  She was sent to cover the 2008 presidential race and she covered it from all angles.  All of her articles were posted on Yahoo and she even won Yahoo’s Content Producer of the Year for Politics for 2008 with over 3 million hits, for all of her excellent coverage.  Then, with very little warning, Yahoo sent an email to all content producers telling them that their services were no longer need and that all of their hard work was going to be removed.  Connie didn’t want to lose all of the articles she had written so she actually hired people to help her download all of her 2008 presidential election coverage.

The result of this work is ‘Obama’s Odyssey’ volumes I and II.  Volume I covers the primaries and caucuses, etc.  Ms. Wilson is a professed Democrat/ Independent so I have to say how much I admire her for covering both sides of the fence with such style and grace.  Her writing is fresh with a biting sense of humor.  As a retired teacher and grandmother, I have to wonder where she got all her energy from.  She criss-crossed the U.S. for days on end.  How did she keep up?

Some may complain that ‘Obama’s Odyssey’ seems a bit choppy because it is a

Connie C. Wilson With Joe Biden, 2008

compilation of her articles from her coverage of the 2008 race however, I don’t see it that way.  There are many books like this that are compilations of an authors previous articles and/or essays.  Malcolm Gladwell is just one example of that.  Ms. Wilson also included a somewhat lengthy introduction explaining why she wrote the books.  I often find introductions of non-fiction books to be on the dry side but her introduction was not that at all.  It was one of the most entertaining introductions I have read in a long time.  So, don’t skip it!

I really enjoyed Volume I and look forward to reading Volume II.  It is the perfect series to be reading during the present day race for the White House.  It really is a must read, especially for political junkies such as myself but for anyone who is interested in the U.S. democratic process.

I know I am a bit early in saying this but get out and vote in November.    You have no right to complain, if you don’t do so!  But Teddy, you live in Canada.  Yes, I do but I am also a U.S. citizen.  I have dual citizenship. I was born and raised in the U.S., St. Paul, Minnesota to be exact.  I have a civic duty to both countries.

5/5

I received the ebook version for my honest review.

Interview with Connie Corcoran Wilson, Author of Obama’s Odyssey

TR: What is it like being on different sides of the political fence with your family?

CCW:  We have the “no bumper sticker” rule. (Neither of us can put a bumper sticker on top of the other person’s bumper sticker.) Holidays are interesting. At Thanksgiving, one person (who shall remain nameless) told me they were going to move to Cabo San Lucas if a certain candidate (who shall remain nameless) were elected. I chose not to argue with this misinformed individual. So far, we’re doing better than Arnold (Schwarzenegger) and Maria (Schriver); if we can hang on for 2 more years, we’ll hit a half century of marital bliss and differing opinions on politics.

TR: It seems to me that you would make the kind of politician we sorely need again in the U.S.  One who would cross the aisle and collaborate with the other side.  If you were to run for any political office, what would your slogan be?

CCW: I did run for political office (1^st Ward Alderperson in East Moline, Illinois.) I won the popular vote, despite incorrect reports in the morning paper, but my opponent cheated. It cost me $8,000 to prove the other side had cheated on the absentee ballots. However, there weren’t enough absentee ballots cast to overturn the outcome of the election. I selected pink and black as my campaign colors. I was too busy proving my opponent had cheated to think up a slogan. I went door-to-door to every absentee voter’s house with an attorney (my brother-in-law) gathering information and notarized signatures to prove the corruption and this case was not thrown out of court, when we appeared before a judge. The blog articles I wrote about the cheating in Rock Island County, Illinois made the papers in Orange County, California and across the nation, so that was rather cool. It was a one-time run to help the incumbent Mayor, but the other side cheated him out of re-election, too, although he was smart enough not to waste any money fighting it. The deck is stacked against the challenger, as the county has already printed the ballots and doesn’t want the expense of having to print new ones.

TR: You have reported in both the political and film arenas.  Do you see any similarities or common recurring themes?

CCW:  Well, John Kennedy, Jr., started his magazine (George) back in the day because he definitely saw a correlation between the world of politics and the world of Hollywood. I can’t disagree.

TR: This may not be very politically incorrect of me to say, but I had a crush on John Edwards during the 2008 race.  (Before we knew about the affair).  However, I wasn’t convinced he was necessarily presidential material.  What are your thoughts?

CCW:  I was with you on the crush. I did think that John Edwards was presidential, at the time (pre-affair fiasco). I tell the story in the first volume of how I told him to “pretend you’re having fun” when our picture was being taken together. The irony should not escape our readers.

TR: Connie, thanks so much for taking the time and stopping by today.  I really admire how you covered both the Democratic and Republican races, rather than just sticking to your party of choice.

CCW:  Thank you, Teddy. I was not able to put up with following this year’s crop of Republican candidates, so I had to pack it in for 2016, but, yes, I did follow the candidates of both parties in 2004, 2008 and 2012—even the Sarah Palins of the day. Lots of material this year. Canada is looking better than ever.

Watch Connie Corcoran Wilson Talk About Obama’s Odyssey Vol. 1 and 2