The Audacity of Hope is fairly predictable -- Obama comes off as reasonable, liberal but willing to go a bipartisan route, not totally knee-jerk, intelligent, a bit preachy (the book easily could have been shorter) etc. It honors his mom various places, in answer to a certain critic I know, while (not totally ideally) isn't very negative to the other side, Bushies in particular. And, he comes off as too safe (and wrong sometimes) on issues like the death penalty, same sex marriage (how exactly does your religion factor in to it? why should it matter as a policy issue?), and being a world policeman. Overall, he comes off as a safe choice for '08. A good election season read.
