"If you look at Obama’s White House," says The Nation‘s Ari Berman, "it’s very much now a top-down, insider White House, following a very conventional Washington playbook. And the whole spirit of grassroots organizing and energy that really defined the Obama campaign has been largely absent." In his new book, Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics, Berman set out to tell a broad story of the on-the-ground movement that propelled Obama into the White House. According to Berman, Obama failed to live up the expectations of his most committed base and this disillusionment is now driving American politics. “Every day," says Berman, "we’re witnessing the fight for the soul of the Democratic Party."