Recomended Reading

As I develop this site I will post recomendations here for further reading, with short reviews and what they will be useful for.

2008 may seem like a lifetime ago, but the issues faced by the candidates and the nature of the campaign remain relevant and important today. Race of a Lifetime was published in America as 'Game Change' and formed the basis of an excellent HBO movie which focused on the role of Sarah Palin in the election.

Written by two journalists, this book is pacey and to the point. The style is straightforward  and easily managible for anyone studying American politics.

The book breaks down the 2008 presidential race into distinct parts, looking at the clash that emerged between Clinton and Obama, looking at key races and days. A particularly useful section looks at the Obama teams starteties for picking up delegates and dealing with caucuses. It also considers the role that super delegates almost played in the nomination and some of the concerns party insiders had about both candidates.

On the Republcan side, they look at the field, but focus on the collapse and resurgence of the McCain campaign, drawing parallels between his experiences in 2008 with the brutal 2000 camapaign he lost to W. Bush. 

The details of the conventions, the debates, polls, the reputation of the parties at the time and the impact of the Great Recession and how both candidates dealt with it are vividly brought to life, but perhaps the most interesting story temains the role of Sarah Palin.

This authors had access to an inside source, apparently Steve Schmidt, McCain's campaign director, and reveal the process behind Palin's selection, the politics of it all and her subsequent disasters. They then deal with change in focus and tone of the campaign which would see Palin seemingly eclipse the main candidate and become a figurehead for the TEA Party when it emerged a few months later.

From an exam point of view, the portrayal of the relative financial resources of the two campaigns is a seriously important element. 2008 was the last time a candidate took matching funds and McCain was outspent by Obama almost 9:1, making this one of the few elections where money really did make a difference to the final vote count.

More than anything, Race of a Lifetime shows a slick, well organised and focused campaign that had, at its core, a positive message about hope and change, bringing a sense of pride and optimism to American politics. This makes it a great source from which to draw parralells with the chaotic, I'll-thought out, bitter and divisive campaign of 2016. Such contrasts are gold dust for brining in analysis in extended essays, not to mention the seeds of the subsequent partisan hostility.

The more you read, the better you do!