Terry McAuliffe

The premise of the book sounds good, but I felt like I read a much different book than was promised. This is more a memoir of McAuliffe's political career, focusing mostly on what he had achieved in office as the governor of Virginia.

It becomes clear very quickly that McAuliffe can do no wrong in his own eyes. He spends the first part of the book talking himself up at every opportunity and touting his accomplishments. He namedrops frequently, and it became quite repetitive and annoying.

The second part of the book deals with what happened in Charlottesville during the "Unite the Right" weekend. McAuliffe praises himself and the state police without reservation (although the police's actions in the rallies were suspect - why were nonviolent protesters being teargassed while later that night people who were flaunting the law allowed to continue in these activities without the police making a peep?). He is quick to lay blame on anyone and everyone else - the counterprotesters for not staying home, the ACLU (he really hates the ACLU, it seems), the judiciary for not siding with him, and the Charlottesville local government.

The last couple of chapters deal do offer some ideas of what can be done to combat white nationalism, but it feels like too little, too late. Even most of these "ideas" are actually just a regurgitation of what he has done in office.

The entire book feels like an attempt from McAliffe to set himself for running for a higher office. I mean, seriously, this guy compares himself to Nelson Mandela, Robert F. Kennedy, and John Lewis. I almost gagged a little. Self-serving much?

My verdict: meh. This isn't the book I was expecting, and I got sick of McAliffe's pontificating pretty quickly.… (mehr)