Election 2004: How Bush Won and What You Can Expect in the Future [Paperback]

This book is based on the reporting that initially appeared in the special post-election issue of Newsweek in November, 2004. There are some minor additions to what appeared in the magazine here, notably the last chapter, which includes Kerry's reflections about the election, as well as speculation on the likely character of the second Bush administration, but otherwise there are few new revelations.

Newsweek's reporters were allowed access to both the Democratic and Republican campaigns for the year prior to Election Day, in exchange for not reporting what they saw until after the process was over. The story they tell is of one campaign headed by a candidate who had a hard time making up his mind, with subordinates who frequently clashed and suspected each other's motivations, while the other was dominated by a candidate who, while petulant, prickly, and stubborn, was supported by an unfailingly upbeat and single-minded staff.

Interesting highlights here that did not make it out into the mainstream news coverage include anecdotes about how confident Karl Rove was that Howard Dean would be the Democratic nominee, to the point of making bets on it, and just how frustrated the campaign staff on Kerry's side was over its inability to improve the candidate's long-winded speaking style. More of the book's embarrassing disclosures come from the Democratic campaign than the Republican one, however, and Kerry himself complained about the way he and his wife were portrayed in the Newsweek special issue. As a result this volume includes a few of his ammendations to the record.

In all fairness to Newsweek, probably more of Kerry's embarrassing moments were reported only because reporters were able to get closer to him and his campaign staff; the Bush White House, notorious for message control, most likely never let Newsweek near enough to the President to see his own foibles. Nevertheless, it would have been nice to have had a better idea of how the Republicans handled their bad times, such as when the Abu Ghraib prison scandal became public -- only during Bush's failure to perform in the debates does one get a sense that the Bush team was genuinely concerned about the way things were going.

"Election 2004" provided a great overview of the last presidential campaign as a special issue of Newsweek, but as a book it's only okay. There isn't the sort of penetrating coverage Bob Woodward provides in his reporting, and with a cover price of fourteen dollars, the book should have offered more, such as color plate versions of its many impressive black-and-white photos. For those who don't mind the price and haven't already read the Newsweek special issue, however, "Election 2004" provides a decent summary of one of the most important, expensive, and participated elections in recent U.S. history.

After reading this book I came to the realization that maybe good non fiction book is like a bottle of wine, a bit of age helps it out. I do not know if the book was a high level shallow review of the topic because it was rushed out the door or if it was due to the authors usual writing styles are best suited for 5 page magazine articles. Either way, the puddle created by a melting snowball would have more depth then this book. With that said, I do give this book credit for what it did deliver, a somewhat gossipy and interesting overview of the 2004 presidential election. It was just that the authors made claims on the dust jacket about it being the definitive account of the 2004 election, which could not be farther from the truth of the matter.

I am a political junky and must say again that I did enjoy the book. The authors give he reader an easy to read and fast paced account of many of the highlights of the last election. They have a tabloid reports eye for interesting bits of information that they string together using the overall race as a method to give you more gossip. They did seem to have more access to the Kerry campaign, which should not be a surprise given he was the challenger. They also seemed to me to be fair in their treatment of both candidates. As a matter of fact I thought if anything they went too easy on both parties when talking about some of the mistakes. With this being said, if you are die hard fan of either of the two candidates you may find some of the book a bit annoying, but I think the authors were bland enough to keep the true fans on the positive side of full blown rage.

Overall I was disappointed in the book from a expectation point of view. The authors sold the book as a definitive inside account of the campaigns yet there did not seem to be a massive treasure trove of new information. I did enjoy what the book had to offer and as a light and quick review of the campaign it does a good job. I think the book is best suited for someone with a passing interest in the subject that would get bored with a good amount of detail. Then again it is early, if you have to read a book now this is probably as good as any alternatives out there now.

I read the original Newsweek special edition of this book and loved it. It was a fascinating look at what the campaign strategies and mistakes were. First let me say I'm a big Bush fan. I did not detect a lot of liberal bias in this book. Sure, they dismiss the Swift Vets with no analysis and fawn over Kerry's performance in the debates. However the overall impression you get from the book is that the Kerry campaign was completely disorganized and dysfunctional, Kerry had no core beliefs and therefore his positions were in a constant state of flux, the Bush team were total pros, and Bush never wavered from his positions. If I did not already know Eleanor Clift was a huge apologist for the Democrats, I would have thought the book was written by Republicans. Actually what I see is some liberal bias and a ton of frustration from the writers. Inside they can't believe how bad the Kerry campaign was.

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