Michael Wear is an Evangelical
Christian who was a college student in Washington, DC, when he heard
Barack Obama give his speech at the 2004 Democratic National
Convention and decided to hitch himself to Obama's wagon. Wear served
a role in faith outreach in the 2008 campaign and then in the Office
of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships during Obama's first
term. He returned to do faith outreach in the 2012 campaign and then
left Obama-ville.
This book is his account of that time.
It's part memoir, part political analysis, and part religious
witness.
There's no question that, especially in
the early days, Wear was a true believer. What appealed to him about
Obama, as to so many of us, was the candidate's steadfast commitment
to bringing all sides together. One of Obama's greatest moments, Wear
says, was his invitation to Evangelical super-pastor Rick Warren to
give the invocation at his first inaugural. There was significant
blowback among Obama's staff and supporters to this choice because,
like most Evangelicals, Warren has a poor record on LGBT issues; but
Obama said, early and often, that just because we can't agree on
everything doesn't mean we have to oppose each other on everything.
And Warren spoke.
