I have a request to make today. I hope that you will all do whatever you can to read up on the next President of the United States. We know right now who that person is going to be. We know it can only be one of three people, all other things being equal. So our reading list does not have to be particularly long.
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Friday is Book & Movie Day on the blog, when we take a look at texts and films – old and new — that I highly recommend you not miss. This week’s recommendation: ANY objective book about John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama

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I believe that the next election in the United States is going to be one of the most critical in the nation’s history. And I believe it is important for each of us who live in the U.S. to learn and to know as much as we can about the candidates.
So today I am not recommending a particular book, but a trio of books — at least one each about the three still viable candidates: Barack Obama, John McCain, and Hillary Clinton, senators all.
I would hope you would choose to read a book that is as objective as possible. That is, not a text that has been written by someone who is clearly a political opponent of the candidate in question, but someone who has been able to approach his or her subject with at least a modicum of objectivity. Then, also read at least one book written by the candidates themselves.
Fortunately, each of these candidates is a prolific writer, so it will not be difficult to find books that each has written. Get one or two. Get inside of their heads. Find out what they are really thinking. Learn as much as you can about their lives, their backgrounds, their personal challenges, their philosophies, their thoughts.
Take the time to get to know these two men and this woman, each of whom would be president. Try to find out what makes them tick. Get away from the daily papers for a while, turn off CNN for a night or two, and read about them in their own words. Then find some books about them written by others.
Locating such books will not be difficult. Just go to any online bookstore and type in the last names of any of these candidates in the website search engine. Every book they’ve ever written, and every book that’s ever been written about them, will pop right up. Again, try to be selective regarding the books written about them. Make sure that they are not “I Gotcha” books written by their enemies.
This election season, do some research. Some real research. Check out these candidates and really vet them.
You may find interesting….Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life, written by the senator in 2004…..or Hard Call: The Art of Great Decisions, the senator’s most recent work, published earlier this year.
On Clinton you may wish to read…..Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2004…..or her 1996 work, It Takes a Village.
Barack Obama reveals much about himself in The Audacity of Hope, his 2006 book……or Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, which he published in 2007.