Political Campaign

A series of developments capped by the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision have effectively crowned a bunch of billionaires and their operatives the new kings of politics. Big Money is a rollicking tour of a new political world dramatically reordered by ever-larger flows of cash. Ken Vogel has breezed into secret gatherings of big-spending Republicans and Democrats alike, from California poolsides to DC hotel bars, to brilliantly expose the way the mega-money men (and rather fewer women) are dominating the new political landscape.

In early 1860, pundits across America confidently predicted the election of Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas in the coming presidential race. Douglas, after all, led the only party that bridged North and South. But the Democrats would split over the issue of slavery, leading Southerners in the party to run their own presidential slate. This opened the door for the upstart Republicans, exclusively Northern, to steal the Oval Office. Dark horse Abraham Lincoln, not the first choice even of his own party, won the presidency with a record-low 39.8 percent of the popular vote.

People on the right are furious. People on the left are livid. And the center isn't holding. There is only one thing on which almost everyone agrees: there is something very wrong in Washington. The country is being run by pollsters. Few politicians are able to win the voters' trust. Blame abounds and personal responsibility is nowhere to be found. There is a cynicism in Washington that appalls those in every state, red or blue.

The fourth and final installment in POLITICO’s Playbook 2012 series once again provides an unprecedented minute-by-minute account of the race for the presidency. The End of the Line follows President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney as their campaign teams go all-in to win in the critical final weeks of the 2012 election.

Barely a year after the self-immolation of a young fruit seller in Tunisia, a vast wave of popular protest has convulsed the Middle East, overthrowing long-ruling dictators and transforming the region’s politics almost beyond recognition. But the biggest transformations of what has been labeled as the “Arab Spring” are yet to come. An insider to both American policy and the world of the Arab public, Marc Lynch shows that the fall of particular leaders is but the least of the changes that will emerge from months of unrest.

People on the right are furious. People on the left are livid. And the center isn't holding. There is only one thing on which almost everyone agrees: there is something very wrong in Washington. The country is being run by pollsters. Few politicians are able to win the voters' trust. Blame abounds and personal responsibility is nowhere to be found. There is a cynicism in Washington that appalls those in every state, red or blue.

From the moment she upset a heavily-favored incumbent in the primary for the special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Joe Biden, Christine O’Donnell made headlines. Though she didn't win the general election, O’Donnell did win the designation of 2010’s Most Covered Candidate. And what people were talking about wasn't just gossip: they responded to a fresh, unencumbered voice that appealed to voter frustration with politics—and politicians—as usual.

On August 31, 1939, nearing the end of his second and presumably final term in office, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was working in the Oval Office and contemplating construction of his presidential library and planning retirement. The next day German tanks had crossed the Polish border; Britain and France had declared war. Overnight the world had changed, and FDR found himself being forced to consider a dramatically different set of circumstances.

Timothy Cooper's novel, 2020 or My Name Is Jesus Christ and I'm Running for President paints a hilariously envisioned America caught up in presidential politics. In actuality, it tells the prophetic story of the rise of Donald Trump. Here Jesus returns to Earth, only to find himself pitted against his satanic stepbrother, Beelzebub, in a contest for the presidency and for the very soul of America.

In The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies, Jonathan Alter uses his unmatched access and deep knowledge of politics and history to produce the first full account of America at the crossroads. He pierces the bubble of the White House and of the presidential campaigns with exclusive reporting and rare historical insight. More than a campaign book, this is the epic story of an embattled president facing a historic moment he considered more pivotal than 2008.

Dans les dernières décennies de la République romaine, Marcus Tullius Cicéron se lance en politique pour briguer le consulat ; son frère Quintus lui apporte alors son expérience du terrain, et son livre est un véritable manuel pour une campagne électorale réussie, "L'art de gagner une élection". Le principe d'une campagne électorale n'a pas changé depuis : gagne celui qui s'assure le soutien des personnages influents et manipule subtilement la masse des électeurs.

The battle is coming. Casting your vote in the November 2010 election may be the most important thing you do all year. These elections will be the critical turning point for America's future. They're our chance to take back America. Dick Morris and Eileen McGann outline a strategy for victory, explaining the pitfalls and walking us through a path to winning control of Congress.

In The Stranger, NBC Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd draws upon his unprecedented inner-circle sources to create a gripping account of Obama's tumultuous White House years. In doing so, not only does Todd give us the most revealing portrait yet of this fascinating president and his struggles, but illuminates what "Obamism" really is, what the president stands for, and how his decisions have changed - and will change - American politics for generations.

Four years ago, a bright young presidential candidate named Barack Obama campaigned on a theme of hope and change, and made history. Today, he finds himself in another bitter, divisive presidential race but without the buzzwords. Instead, an embattled president struggles with a dysfunctionally divided Congress, a controversial healthcare bill, a decade-long war, and a stagnant economy.

The concept of a more perfect union remains a constant theme in the political rhetoric of Barack Obama. From his now historic race speech to his second victory speech delivered on November 7, 2012, that striving is evident.

Imagine a country where the right to vote is not guaranteed by the Constitution, where the candidate with the most votes loses, and where paperwork requirements and bureaucratic bungling disenfranchise millions. You're living in it. If the consequences weren't so serious, it would be funny. An eye-opening, fact-filled companion to the forthcoming PBS documentary starring political satirist and commentator Mo Rocca, Electoral Dysfunction illuminates a broad array of issues.

This book is a ride through Oregon’s swamp, dirty lobbyists, corrupt media, push polls, pseudo patriots who really aid the left, a voting infrastructure built for fraud, voter apathy—and yet, also some of the best, salt-of-the-Earth fighters a person will ever be lucky enough to meet.

En el Estado de México, los partidos políticos ya están ensayando sus buenas y sus malas artes para atraer votantes, están sometiendo a prueba máxima la capacidad del árbitro electoral, emplean todos sus recursos intentando seducir a la hidra mediática y han desatado rudísimos rounds de sombra en la entidad con el mayor padrón electoral. Saben que quien impere en estas elecciones habrá dado un paso de oro rumbo a Palacio Nacional.

Sí podía saberse lo que iba a ocurrir si Andrés Manuel López Obrador llegaba a la Presidencia. Bastaba observar, poner atención, seguir los pasos que fue dando desde sus orígenes como soldado priista. Eso es justamente lo que ha hecho Pablo Hiriart desde hace 34 años: señalar y documentar cada una de las afrentas que la democracia mexicana ha soportado a manos del fundador de Morena.

In the wake of Trump's presidency, Republican-led states have joined in an alarming assault on our democratic system. But the drift toward authoritarianism in red states has far deeper roots. In States of Neglect, journalist William Kleinknecht surveys the landscape of neglect in states including Texas, Florida, and Arizona through the experiences of a rich cast of characters.