In Presidential Intentions,(Amazon) Doug Wood, one of the nation's
leading advertising lawyers, has written a political thriller and much more.
Wood, who is also the author of an authoritative text on advertising industry
law, has crafted a meditation on the art of politics, and the difficult life
compromises that strain family relationships. In particular, he focuses on what
happens to a candidate as he (or in this case she) is moved along the path to a run for the
Presidency.
As the book opens, the
protagonist , Samantha Harrison, is the Republican candidate for president in
2016, running against - you guessed it- Hillary Clinton. Harrison’s story is told in flashbacks,
including her time as a Stanford student who marries her economics professor who
is twice her age, and to her achieving both an MBA and a law degree. She moves to Washington DC, entering and abruptly
leaving a high- powered law firm under unusual
circumstances, but without sacrificing
her integrity. Later, she becomes a
tough Virginia prosecutor, and then remakes her career as a first as
a congresswoman, and then governor of Virginia. All this occurs at the same time as she is
raising two children while her husband, Benjamin, who deplores Washington
politics, lives with the children away from the District.
Wood is eloquent on family
life but he also zeroes in on the intricacies of crime (there’s a trial of a sex offender going on), and international
terror threats (in the shape of a threatened Al Qaeda nuclear attack.) He weaves Harrison
into the story, and along the way brings the reader into the Oval Office and
the counter-intelligence process.
His expertise in all things
Washington and legal, and his panoramic view of the geo-political scene, make
this an exciting read. But the heart of the book goes beyond the admittedly
page -turning text. It lies instead in the debate and tensions between
Samantha, as a prosecutor, politician and public servant and those persons
standing for mere expediency and political clout. Samantha’s character is
etched in speeches and epigrams in which she reveals her passionate convictions
as a conservative with strong human values. It's all here -- from abortion to capital punishment to
entitlement programs to the current issues befuddling the Obama administration.
And it makes for a most refreshing point of view, harking back to the days when
politics was less of a blood sport and more the arena for something more
philosophical and public spirited.
Presidential Intentions is a sharply-edged portrait of a candidate and a country deeply
divided from within the family and throughout the political arena at large.
It’s a cri de coeur for a more honest version of a polity befitting American
ideals. Strongly recommended.
