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Why Obama’s Book Might Actually Be Worth $65 Million

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Slate: “Obama is unique among presidents for having found success and acclaim as an author before his political career vaulted to the heights. Sweetening the deal for his publisher is the unfamiliar possibility that his book might actually be good, a potential driver for even more sales.”

“But it also won’t particularly matter if it’s not. Presidential memoirs are given as Christmas and father’s day gifts, purchased and left on side tables as an emblem of their owner’s political sentiments and otherwise acquired by people with no great desire to explore their contents. Often as not, they represent a vote of support, a badge of affiliation, a souvenir. They are the tony equivalent of a commemorative plate. Actually reading them seems beside the point.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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