With Elizabeth Warren and Hilary Clinton both releasing memoirs and the recent news of Edward Klein's next book about the Obamas and Clintons, we asked our readers “Do political memoirs matter to you, or are they just more cultural noise?” Much like politics in general, memoirs written by elected officials seem to inspire about as much skepticism as they do interest. Many readers were intrigued to hear what politicians have to say about past experiences and personal trials that led to current ideological positions. Others found it difficult to see the books as anything other than the usual rhetoric and noise of the Washington machine. Here are some highlights from the discussion.
Interested:
“they are filters of a specific time from a unique POV. Of course they matter” – A.B.Funkhauser (@iamfunkhauser) via Twitter
“Many times, we make our political judgments based on what the media tells us a politician has or hasn't done… Sometimes, the only way we discover why a politician made the moves he made is by getting inside his head. Memoirs have the potential to get us there.” – Sarah Dugan, via Facebook
“Yes. America is all about freedom and telling our stories. We need educated voters now more than ever.” – Terry Munda (@tmunda1954) via Twitter
Uninterested:
“Political memoirs are - for the most part - posturing and repetition of partisan rhetoric.” – Charles Hatfield (@thehatfield ) via Twitter
“Noise. like everything else about politics.” Rachel Robertson, via Facebook
“Memoirs written before the story is complete is an advertisement not to be trusted.” Paul D Parsons, via Facebook
“Banality from front cover to blurb jacket” – Mike Staresinic (@MikeStaresinic) via Twitter
