books:

	No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner Robert Shrum Simon & Schuster, 2007 - 544 pages average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
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With wit and humor, rare candor, and a wealth of detail, he vividly recounts the real personalities and real forces that shaped the outcome of the closest and most important elections of our time. We are there with Shrum in the back rooms, on the planes, and in the motorcades with Ted Kennedy, Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards, and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Shrum reveals the manipulations and limitations of old and new forms of political persuasion, from the historic and sometimes controversial speeches he wrote to the negative ads he created for national and statewide candidates, from prepping presidential nominees for critical debates to the deployment of the new political weapon, the Internet.

He lifts the curtain on decisive moments. Did John Kerry and John Edwards actually believe in the Iraq war they voted for? What was the real reason the Kerry campaign didn't respond faster to the Swift Boat attacks? Why didn't Al Gore let Bill Clinton campaign all-out in 2000? How did Clinton get through the first perilous week of the Lewinsky scandal?

This is a provocative journey through recent history: George McGovern's antiwar campaign of 1972, the improbable rise of Jimmy Carter, Senate campaigns that made historic breakthroughs and shaped the presidential contests of the future, the gifts that made Bill Clinton a great politician -- and the circumstances and calculations that kept him from being a great president.

As strategist, adviser, and often friend to the leaders he enlisted with, Shrum shows them as they are, with their strengths and human weaknesses -- as well as his own.

Assailed as a populist who pushed the Democratic Party, in a phrase he coined, "to stand for the people, not the powerful," Shrum argues that unlike Republicans from Reagan on, Democrats fall short, politically or in office, when they trim their convictions and walk away from fundamental issues -- like universal health coverage.This is one of the most fascinating books ever written about the victories and defeats, the causes and candidates, the "flawed heroes" that drive the high drama of American politics.

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IF YOU WANT AN INSIDER'S VIEW OF ELECTIONS

When I first saw Bob Schrum's book on the shelves at my local book store, I pulled it out, cracked the cover, and sat cross-legged right there on the floor, inhaling about 100 pages before my wife Holly caught my attention, and said we should be on our way.

I bought the book that I'd already marked with my notes, and tabbed.

I read it that evening, all the way through, couldn't put it down.

If you like great writing, are somewhat of a political obsessive, and are dying to know what goes on in political campaigns, you should read this book. You won't be disappointed - except you'll find it went by too fast and want more. I did.

To appreciate my point of view, you have to understand that I have always thought that Schrum could turn a phrase or see an argument in a way few could, and I've always thought that he did this with high-minded compassion for the underdog that has survived numerous campaigns and, even more challenging to his integrity, that has endured his own commercial success.

I know there are folk out there who pulled out their long swords to cut at Schrum's revelations and the story he had to tell and that wish him ill. The most prominent of these you can find in Schrum's table of contents so you can see for yourself, if so inclined, precisely how Schrum dispatches the unworthy.

Sour grape critics aside, if you want to get a sense of present politics and past history, this is a book that you must read.

It tells you how Schrum realized his own appetite and skill for the political adventure that became his life story, whether it was his gift to merge the right word with the moment, or to turn the precisely correct argument into a rhetorical pirouhette.

At his best, he takes you inside the back rooms when chaos and indecision must be ordered to figure out what to do next.

He gives you a glimpse into Ted Kennedy, his first and longest lasting loyal devotion, and other presidential runs for the White House.

If you want to know about the high strategy and drive-by slanders and back-biting king-of-the-hill wars on the campaign bus endemic to political campaigns since Brutus drove his blade into Caesar, you'll find a few recent chapters in that history right here.

Schrum writes this as if it's his last memoir, and he's fading from the active political scene.

It is interesting to observe, however, that, in his book, he favors only one candidate running for President on the Democratic side, Barack Obama.

Schrum's direct praise of Obama's qualities, written when the field of candidates was crowded, shows his reading to be somewhat prescient of Obama's success.

It also makes you wonder whether, if Obama gets the democratic nomination in Denver, whether Schrum will be on the talking head shows as an Obama spokesperson, rather than as a disinterested observer and old hand.

Get this book. But don't clutter the aisles reading it on the floor - as I did.

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Tales of A Vilified Man

For many, particularly in the wake of the 2002 and 2004 electoral disasters, Shrum represents the very epitome of what is wrong with the national Democractic Party.

Having read many books crucifying the man, it was interesting to get Shrum's own story. Because the tale is certainly an interesting one - Kennedys, Clintons, Gores oh my!, and offers "lessons learnt" as well as interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout.

It may not be an objective view of history - no autobiography ever is. But even if you are no fan of the man, the book itself is an interesting read, and offers lessons, not just in politics, but in life itself - academia, business, and just people.

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The Forest Gump of democratic politics

The author is sort of like the Forest Gump of Democratic politics. He seems to be there or close by in all of the major events within the democratic party over the past 40 years. Any political fan of any party will love this book. It gives you a front row seat on national political events. The same talent that wrote scores of speeches for various democrats which motivated millions is the sane voice that tells this story.The book is interesting and flows easily.

The author tells the little stories in the book behind every democratic presidential candidate. Those stories make this book the 2007 version of the old Theodore White books about the making of the presidents. I am sure it will be required reading soon in most political science programs across the country.

The book is just lots of little stories about the campaigns. It isn't a big study of the issues or events. Those stories do bring texture to the campaigns we all have seen on the news. Through those stories a reader can see what has taken over US politics in both countries. The issues seem not to matter. It is winning over all else. What matters is the game and the resulting victory. Ideas and issues don't seem to matter. You see that through Shrum's stories and comments. He even talks about where campaigns go with what the polls say not what they feel is right. There is very little hard facts, analysis or answers to the why. He also brings up the fact that he knew of the Clinton problem before the election. That makes one think of personal accountability for the by products of his "spinning".

Over all the book is entertaining and any political fan will love it.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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