A change in plans

[Amy L.]

Good luck on the project, Rob!
I would like to ask, would a comparison of Tarbell's and Lincoln's views on Democracy be unappealing? I know nothing about publishing, but as a consumer, I would find the topic interesting...

Democracy seems like a contemporary, moving topic. Not everyone likes Thomas Friedman, but I see his opinion piece quoted:

"So here’s my bottom line: Several years ago, a Hebrew biography of Ariel Sharon was published with the title “He Doesn’t Stop at Red Lights.” It is a fitting title for our times, too. What is so unnerving to me about the state of the world today are the number of leaders ready to shamelessly, in broad daylight — and with a sense of utter impunity — drive through red lights. That is, to drive through the legal and normative gates that have kept the world relatively peaceful over the last 70 years, during which we had no great power wars, and have enabled more people to emerge from extreme poverty faster than at any other era in history.

"We will miss this if it ends. ... And it is necessary that we make sure that Putin’s quest to find dignity by crushing that Ukrainian freedom movement fails.

"But none of that is sufficient if all those politicians in America who also think that they can run through any red light to gain or hold power succeed. Who will follow our model then?

"I can’t think of another time in my life when I felt the future of America’s democracy and the future of democracy globally were more in doubt. And don’t kid yourself; they are intertwined. And don’t kid yourself; they both can still go either way."