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The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election
The definitive account of the landmark election from two of America's best known political reporters
The election of 2008 shattered political barriers, illuminated undercurrents of race, gender, and class, and ignited an extraordinary battle among some of the most formidable political rivals ever to seek the presidency in Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain. It w...more
The election of 2008 shattered political barriers, illuminated undercurrents of race, gender, and class, and ignited an extraordinary battle among some of the most formidable political rivals ever to seek the presidency in Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain. It w...more
Hardcover, 432 pages
Published
August 4th 2009
by Viking Adult
(first published 2009)
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I have already alluded in my review for Heilemann and Halperin’s 2010 book Game Change, also about the 2008 presidential election, that I would give five stars to any book about this topic, even if written by a village idiot. Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson’s account of the historic battle, published last year, is no exception. Though I acknowledge that writing a review about this book based on its own merits is the correct thing to do, it is inevitable that I will end up simply comparing it to Game...more
From its inception with the announcements of candidacies to its denouement with the inauguration,the 2008 presidential campaign is
brilliantly portrayed in "The Battle for America,2008.Balz and Johnson,
both old hands at political rapportage,have fashioned a novel-like ac
count of a most fascinating event in American history. Giving fair
coverage to both parties and to all major candidates,we are reminded of
the ups and downs we all experienced during that campaign.
Once again we saw Obama announcin...more
I got stopped on the subway by a random French guy who saw my book and said "IT IS A GOOD STORY!" Haha.
I'm not sure what to say about this. It's good. I liked the first half better though, because once Obama gets to the general election with John McCain, I feel like I knew more of the details (since I follow the news) and it wasn't as fresh. That was when I started to wish there was more inside scoop. (Although the copies of the emails written to Sarah Palin about "palling around with terrorist...more
I'm not sure what to say about this. It's good. I liked the first half better though, because once Obama gets to the general election with John McCain, I feel like I knew more of the details (since I follow the news) and it wasn't as fresh. That was when I started to wish there was more inside scoop. (Although the copies of the emails written to Sarah Palin about "palling around with terrorist...more
The Battle for America, 2008 promised to be a insider's dish of scoops and memo dumps from the extraordinary 2008 election. While there was some of this -- for example, Johnson and Balz publish the email the McCain campaign sent out authorizing the Ayers attacks on Obama, proving it wasn't the result of a "rogue" Palin -- the vast majority of the book is a narrative account of the primaries and general election that will be familiar to anyone like me who was engrossed in the politics of 2008.
Ma...more
Ma...more
Sep 28, 2009
Donna
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
political junkies
Shelves:
current-events
They say that journalism is the first draft of history. This is the second draft. Balz and Johnson are affiliated with the Washington Post and have done an admirable job of capturing the excitement of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. They keep the Democrat and Republican stories separate during the primary season and then go forward with the Obama/McCain general election.
This is not just a recap of the newspapers, however. The authors did have private interviews about their project with the...more
This is not just a recap of the newspapers, however. The authors did have private interviews about their project with the...more
A narrative about the election of 2008. It wasn't quite as popular as "Game Change" and it's not hard to see why. Something about Balz's writing is very off-putting--I found it very hard to read through, as well as his 2012 e-book. It might be because he's really a newspaper guy and not a book writing, but I'm not sure.
Still, like GC it goes through the 2008 election, with an emphasis on the Democratic side of things, where an epic showdown took place between the Clintons and Obama. McCain and...more
Still, like GC it goes through the 2008 election, with an emphasis on the Democratic side of things, where an epic showdown took place between the Clintons and Obama. McCain and...more
A good and extensive look at the 2008 presidential election: views and concerns of American voters, the candidates, who won and why.
It is very much helped by having been researched and written as starting when the campaign and election were happening rather than entirely after it was over. The authors also manage to remain seemingly unbiased.
There is a strong focus paid toward the "Big 3" of Obama, Hillary, and McCain which leads to some things being skimmed over like Obama choosing Biden as his...more
It is very much helped by having been researched and written as starting when the campaign and election were happening rather than entirely after it was over. The authors also manage to remain seemingly unbiased.
There is a strong focus paid toward the "Big 3" of Obama, Hillary, and McCain which leads to some things being skimmed over like Obama choosing Biden as his...more
A good "instant history" of the 2008 campaign. The first half -- on the Democratic primaries -- is by far the best. Having lived through all of this day to day, much of the narrative was familiar, but the main premise is fascinating: HRC never knew what hit her. Knowing that they couldn't win an old-style nomination battle, the Obama campaign completely changed the field of play to caucuses and the Internet. By the time the Clinton team figured it out, the numbers were insurmountable even though...more
This was just a really good book about a fascinating election. The journalists went into another level of depth from Game Change and struck a balance between behind-the-scenes happenings and a reminder of the public words and actions of all the candidates. As someone who lived through the election and paid reasonable attention I still got something out of this book and was again touched by Obama's oratory and the remembrance of the passion he inspired through his campaign. I also thought the jou...more
2008 was quite an extraordinary election, and the book started off strongly. However, in the end it provided much greater detail on events in 2007 (prior to any votes being cast) and often gave short shrift to the results of most of the primary results (post-Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina). Additionally, I found four errors in the book (the most galling was on page 171, when it said that Ted Kennedy sought the Democratic nomination against Jimmy Carter in 1976, when it was actually 1980...more
This book explained a lot about the election 2008. Joe the Plumber, the South Carolina debate, the 3 a.m. phone call. At the time, I could barely keep up with soundbites and Newsweek articles because we were in the chaos of a move and busy life with children. I couldn't be as interested in politics then, but now that I'm making a little more time to read, this book helped me catch up on what I missed the first time around. Even if you're not interested in politics, this book tells a great story...more
I had some misgivings that it would be largely the same story as Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, but they complement each other nicely. The other book goes into greater detail of the Clinton - Obama primary, as well as behind-the-scenes of The Palin Problem; this one isn't quite as "detailed", instead covering the Republican nomination to show how McCain was left as "last candidate standing", presaging his weaknesses in the fall campaign.
A decent recap of the 2008 primaries and general election campaign.
Pros:
The book does an excellent job highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of Obama and HRC's campaigns for his and her party's nomination, especially chronicling the fall of Clinton and her once-inevitable nomination and Obama's historic rise to the Democratic ticket.
It fairly dissects the campaign strategy of all major candidates and concisely covers how major stories - e.g., Rev. Wright, Sarah Palin's interviews with Katie...more
Pros:
The book does an excellent job highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of Obama and HRC's campaigns for his and her party's nomination, especially chronicling the fall of Clinton and her once-inevitable nomination and Obama's historic rise to the Democratic ticket.
It fairly dissects the campaign strategy of all major candidates and concisely covers how major stories - e.g., Rev. Wright, Sarah Palin's interviews with Katie...more
I enjoyed the book Game Change very much so I had high hopes for this account of the blockbuster 2008 US Presidential election and the book lived up to it. I thought the title was a bit cheesy, almost something Jon Stewart would mock.
This account of the election nicely drilled down into voter intentions, sways in support from Clinton to Obama and from McCain/Palin to Obama. The authors touched base throughout the election with undecided and committed voters and explained the shifts which was a n...more
This account of the election nicely drilled down into voter intentions, sways in support from Clinton to Obama and from McCain/Palin to Obama. The authors touched base throughout the election with undecided and committed voters and explained the shifts which was a n...more
what's the saying ... if you want to enjoy the ballet, don't sit too close to the show. or something like that. it's fascinating to learn about a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on in a campaign and the human dynamic that's involved. after reading this book, it's almost unnerving to think about all the chaos and petty frictions that go on from within the candidate's inner circle. solid read, can probably be a bit slow if politics isn't your thing though.
Great narrative on the 2008 election in the tradition of historian Teddy White. Not a deep, political theory kind of thing but a good read about primarily Obama, Clinton, McCain, and -- who can forget, as much as we would like to -- Sarah Palin. These are good storytellers and its a good story to tell.
Very enjoyable read for all the political junkies out there. Although the election has been covered so exhaustively already that for those who followed closely, this book may not provide a whole lot of new information that you didn't already know. But it was still great to read, and to re-live the process.
Interesting book - the authors do a good job of portraying both sides' views on comments and actions throughout the campaign. In particular, the chapters concerning the Clintons and how they tried so desperately to get the Democratic nomination for Hillary are quite informative and entertaining
A decent narrative account of the 2008 election. While the authors had access to a number of insiders from both the Republican and Democratic campaigns, I didn't find anything especially surprising revealed through those interviews. Most of this is information that has been previously reported.
The book's primary virtue is in taking disparate threads and accounts and weaving them together into a tight, streamlined narrative. There is some examination of the election's political and social signif...more
The book's primary virtue is in taking disparate threads and accounts and weaving them together into a tight, streamlined narrative. There is some examination of the election's political and social signif...more
Very withdrawn, historical overview of the election. There wasn't too much here that was revelatory (as someone who enjoys following the fucked up drama of American elections), but I did gain a new appreciation for Clinton and her campaign. The narrative didn't really pick up until Palin showed up (natch). Frankly, I think the '08 election was way too comically insane for such a distanced presentation, but the book was interesting--and, amazingly, unbiased--nonetheless.
Nice recap of the last election. Most of the book is focused on the Democratic primary, which is justified because that's where most of the action was. I would have liked to see a bit more on the general election, though, which was given rather perfunctory treatment.
The truth is more extreme even that what got into the popular press at the time. John McCain shoots from the hip, Sarah Palin was virtually unvetted, Hillary's team never had a leader, and Obama's team was made up of true believers and idealists.
i watched last year so closely, otherwise this book might have rated a five... no. it still PURPOSEFULLY skips much delving into Biden. gotta be an intentional snub by haynes johnson, 'cause they covered the Palin selection process fairly well
Of course I was following the election in 2008, so one might think that this book might be mots -- and some of it is. The authors, however, got some real inside information, so some of it was new to me. I liked having a summing up of the whole thing with a little bit of time perspective -- though obviously not a lot! A good read for those at all interested in politics.
Re hash of the 2008 election, not a lot of new information, but authors have come to the same conclusion I have - our system is broken - ideologies trump pragmatism - and people will believe the worst evil if its on the internet.
Very interesting, quick-paced read about the elections. Particularly intriguing were the comparisons of the Clinton vs. Obama campaigns. To me, this book didn't seem biased, which was refreshing.
A general overview of the events of the 2008 election. The treatment of the events was fairly vanilla, but it provided a thorough time line mingled with the requisite Obama butt kissing.
despite being a bit pompous some of the time this was pretty good. Who knew that an African American man got elected president of the free world after all? Quite an interesting novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election. Although the authors go into no great detail on any single issue, they do an excellent job of viewing the 2008 presidential election from a macro level. In time, this book will rightfully take its place alongside Theodore H. White's The Making of the President book series. This book is required reading for political junkies.
An interesting view behind the scenes of the 2008 election. Not as exciting as Newsweek's post-election issue (which I loved), but still an interesting read.
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“What distinguished Obama was his determination not to wait until he had forged a longer political record of his achievement, and the historic conjunction of events that made possible so unlikely a candidacy.”
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“But history is replete with potential candidates for the presidency who waited too long rather than example of people who ran too soon." - David Axelrod”
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Aug 24, 2009 01:55pm