Campaign for President
The Managers Look at 2012
By (author) The Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School
Publication date:
16 May 2013Length of book:
288 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersDimensions:
233x161mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9781442222465
In this book, a distinguished group of presidential campaign staff, journalists, and political observers take us inside the 2012 race for the Republican nomination and general election, guiding us through each candidate's campaign from the time each candidate announced his or her intention to seek the presidency through the primaries, conventions, and up to election day. Meeting under the auspices of the Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, the candid discussion allows us to learn about the motivations of each candidate, strategies they deployed, and lessons they learned. In addition, representatives from the major SUPERPACS share their strategies and evaluate their impact in an election characterized by unprecedented campaign spending. Campaign for President: The Managers Look at 2012 is essential reading for anyone interested in the inner workings of national political campaigns.
The Institute of Politics at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government has, for every presidential election since 1972, held a post-election conference on the strategy and tactics of the presidential campaign. Since 1976, the institute has arranged publication of the proceedings, and this book is a record of last year’s forum, which took place within weeks of the November election. It presents a transcript of journalists’ questions answered (or dodged) by top officials of the Obama and Romney campaigns as well as representatives of the unsuccessful Republican primary campaigns and managers of the super PACs who played a role over the course of this election. For every interesting comment by someone such as the Obama campaign’s chief strategist David Axelrod, general readers will encounter an obscure or repetitive remark about a candidate they may have forgotten about, by a campaign official they’ve likely never heard of. A detailed time line of the entire election cycle is a useful appendix. VERDICT: Participants in the conference, who will all receive a copy of this book, will enjoy it, as will very serious political enthusiasts.