Rating: 
Summary: Klein does it again
Review: Mr Klein builds on the success of Primary Colors, writing another book that makes the reader feel he is a fly on the wall in the political process. It's amusing, it's realistic...that is, if the view we get of the political system through the eyes of the media is truly "reality."
Rating: 
Summary: More than just a political thriller
Review: Quite often a second novel has much less to offer than a first one, particularly when the first one was done with such a marketing hype as "Primary Colors.Therefore this book was such a pleasant surprise. Klein, fortunately not 'Anonymous' anymore, has given an insight in the political process only a real insider can and has written a well-plotted and fast-paced novel on top of that. The novel describes in perfect detail the sometimes cynical approach to politics, but at the same time avoids depicting all the politicians as immoral beings. At the end of the novel I had a real liking for the Senator Senator Martin has ended a campaign for the Presidential Candidatship in disgrace by being accused of sexual harrassment by one of his aides. Dissappointed he goes to South-East Asia and rehabilitates himself by getting an American out of prison in Vietnam. The man is there because he had killed a child in the war without any reason and returned to do penance. When the refuses to go out the Senator quotes Ghandi who once said that for every child killed you should save a child. You can feel the Senator thinking that this is a line which always went down well with voters so why not try it here and it shows the lack of conviction in what Martin is doing. He then moves back to Washington and becomes very much part of the circle of people trying to position theirselves in the musical chair game for Cabinet positions. He rehabilitates himself morrally when he refuses to endorse his friend Sly in his quest for the Secretary of Defense position because he is certain that he takes much more Valium then is good for him. This move does not make him many friends and the spin doctor process again is a demonstration for the sometimes very cynical level politics is conducted at. Time and again this theme is recurring in the novel, in particular when he seeks his re-election in his homestate in the Midwest. Klein artfully portarys the two ends of the moral spectre in the low character of the Senator's adversary, Butler, a local businessman and the high moral grounds of the Senator's fiancee, Nell. Senator Martin's own position is in the middle, not only driven by his own ambiguous thoughts ( the choice between values and ambition) but also by the simple realities of political and public life. In the end one cannot help but feeling thoroughly sympathetic to the Senator's actions and positions, much more than for the positions taken by Butler and Nell. It is easy to condemn from an armchair but to me it is clear that any country could do a whole lot worse without the likes of Martin governing it. The strenght of the book is that it does not matter very much what political positions the various protagonists take. Left or right, liberal or conservative, the main criterium for a good politician is his decency, his moral strength and his capability to act, and indeed sometimes to compromise, according to the situation at hand. All in all, a very good read and hopefully a start for many more good novels on the politics of Washington. One final note; Klein is not very friendly in describing Bangkok, where the Senator stays for a couple of days, as a place of cheap sex and drugs. I am a resident of Bangkok and can tell you that it is a beautiful capital of a very gentle and friendly people, which has much more to offer than what the Senator thinks.
Rating:
Summary: Joe Klein's does "The Lash Hurrah" for a new generation
Review: Senator Charles Martin was the Bob Kerry-like figure in Joe (a.k.a. Anonymous) Klein's roman-a-clef "Primary Colors," a decorated Vietnam vet who did not use the Happy Hairdresser to derail Jack Stanton in New Hampshire. In "The Running Mate," Martin is now the main character and while this book is not a sequel per se to "Primary Colors," it does inhabit the same fictional but still recognizable political world. The title of this book is purposefully ambiguous, since it suggests that Martin would be Stanton's choice for the second spot on the ticket, but then the book's prologue has the Senator embroiled in a re-election campaign. Actually the title refers to the book's main subplot, for while their is a political campaign dominating the narrative there is also a romance going on between Martin and Nell Palmerston (The cover art is a simple but elegant extension of "Primary Colors"; there is now a blue donkey behind the first). However, both story lines deal with the brand new world created in the wake of the Stanton/Clinton victory, from the extent to which personal lives are fair game to the way candidates create and respond to negative ads. Readers who pick up this book looking for more Jack Stanton will be disappointed, as he is a very minor character in the narrative. Still, his political reality is not only alive and kicking, but threatening to bring down Charles Martin. Actually, if this book reminds you of any other major political novel, it would really be "The Last Hurrah" rather than "Primary Colors." Even more so than with "Primary Colors," those who try to find the facts behind the fiction are simply barking up the wrong tree. When Klein wrote "The Running Mate" there were six veterans in the United States Senate who served in Vietnam: Max Cleland, Chuck Hagel, Bob Kerry, John Kerry, John McCain and Chuck Robb. Readers might recognize bits and pieces of Charles Martin's life in what they know about those six Senators, and Klein credits them with being the inspiration for this book, but none of the six match up with the fictional characters even half as well as Bill Clinton did with Jack Stanton. Actually, when I read the book the Senator I kept thinking of was the one from my own state who was defeated last fall by a rich guy who owns a chain of department stores, which certainly matches up with Martin's contest against the Muffler Man. Ultimately, "The Running Mate" looks at the generational conflict between the Baby Boomers who lived through Vietnam and the Sixties rather than the ideological division supposed represented by the two parties (both of which are considerably more moderate than they were a decade ago). There is a sense in which Klein is tracking how the alternative lifestyles that were once accepted, are now being rejected again. Certainly Klein burdens Martin's character with a fair amount of baggage in that regard: his widowed father is living in sin, his girl friend is still married, he has just discovered he fathered a son in Vietnam, and his chauffeur is an ex-drug runner who has found the Lord. His opponent in the Senate campaign, Lee Butler, has been mouthing off on a morning radio talk show for a couple of years and loves to be shown reading his Bible. Clearly there are two well defined sides in this particular campaign. "The Running Mate" is not a cynical novel about politics, but it is certainly depressingly realistic. A consistent theme is that Martin is an honorable man, which is clearly established as a big disadvantage when it comes to wagging a political campaign in America today. There is a transcendent moment in the novel, when Butler makes the mistake of trying to go for the jugular too soon in a debate between the candidates, and Martin destroys the man in two marvelous paragraphs. This is the sort of scene I have waited for my whole life in the Presidential debates, a moment where one candidate makes the other eat their words before the eyes and ears of the nation. However, in Klein's world as in our own, no good deed goes unpunished. In the final analysis I did not enjoy "The Running Mate" as much as I did "Primary Colors," where half the fun was wondering how much of the story was grounded in fact and how much in fiction. But Klein is making a much more serious point about the current nature of the political process this time around, dealing less with the dominant personality of a flawed but compelling candidate, and more with just how things work. At the end, you might be more inclined to be more disenchanted with the process than the candidates. This book is well worth reading, especially if you are provoked into having deep thoughts.
Rating:
Summary: Joe Klein's does "The Lash Hurrah" for a new generation
Review: Senator Charles Martin was the Bob Kerry-like figure in Joe (a.k.a. Anonymous) Klein's roman-a-clef "Primary Colors," a decorated Vietnam vet who did not use the Happy Hairdresser to derail Jack Stanton in New Hampshire. In "The Running Mate," Martin is now the main character and while this book is not a sequel per se to "Primary Colors," it does inhabit the same fictional but still recognizable political world. The title of this book is purposefully ambiguous, since it suggests that Martin would be Stanton's choice for the second spot on the ticket, but then the book's prologue has the Senator embroiled in a re-election campaign. Actually the title refers to the book's main subplot, for while their is a political campaign dominating the narrative there is also a romance going on between Martin and Nell Palmerston (The cover art is a simple but elegant extension of "Primary Colors"; there is now a blue donkey behind the first). However, both story lines deal with the brand new world created in the wake of the Stanton/Clinton victory, from the extent to which personal lives are fair game to the way candidates create and respond to negative ads. Readers who pick up this book looking for more Jack Stanton will be disappointed, as he is a very minor character in the narrative. Still, his political reality is not only alive and kicking, but threatening to bring down Charles Martin. Actually, if this book reminds you of any other major political novel, it would really be "The Last Hurrah" rather than "Primary Colors." Even more so than with "Primary Colors," those who try to find the facts behind the fiction are simply barking up the wrong tree. When Klein wrote "The Running Mate" there were six veterans in the United States Senate who served in Vietnam: Max Cleland, Chuck Hagel, Bob Kerry, John Kerry, John McCain and Chuck Robb. Readers might recognize bits and pieces of Charles Martin's life in what they know about those six Senators, and Klein credits them with being the inspiration for this book, but none of the six match up with the fictional characters even half as well as Bill Clinton did with Jack Stanton. Actually, when I read the book the Senator I kept thinking of was the one from my own state who was defeated last fall by a rich guy who owns a chain of department stores, which certainly matches up with Martin's contest against the Muffler Man. Ultimately, "The Running Mate" looks at the generational conflict between the Baby Boomers who lived through Vietnam and the Sixties rather than the ideological division supposed represented by the two parties (both of which are considerably more moderate than they were a decade ago). There is a sense in which Klein is tracking how the alternative lifestyles that were once accepted, are now being rejected again. Certainly Klein burdens Martin's character with a fair amount of baggage in that regard: his widowed father is living in sin, his girl friend is still married, he has just discovered he fathered a son in Vietnam, and his chauffeur is an ex-drug runner who has found the Lord. His opponent in the Senate campaign, Lee Butler, has been mouthing off on a morning radio talk show for a couple of years and loves to be shown reading his Bible. Clearly there are two well defined sides in this particular campaign. "The Running Mate" is not a cynical novel about politics, but it is certainly depressingly realistic. A consistent theme is that Martin is an honorable man, which is clearly established as a big disadvantage when it comes to wagging a political campaign in America today. There is a transcendent moment in the novel, when Butler makes the mistake of trying to go for the jugular too soon in a debate between the candidates, and Martin destroys the man in two marvelous paragraphs. This is the sort of scene I have waited for my whole life in the Presidential debates, a moment where one candidate makes the other eat their words before the eyes and ears of the nation. However, in Klein's world as in our own, no good deed goes unpunished. In the final analysis I did not enjoy "The Running Mate" as much as I did "Primary Colors," where half the fun was wondering how much of the story was grounded in fact and how much in fiction. But Klein is making a much more serious point about the current nature of the political process this time around, dealing less with the dominant personality of a flawed but compelling candidate, and more with just how things work. At the end, you might be more inclined to be more disenchanted with the process than the candidates. This book is well worth reading, especially if you are provoked into having deep thoughts.
Rating: 
Summary: WAIT FOR THE PAPERBACK
Review: This book does not hold a candle to Primary Colors but it is readable. My main complaint is that the characters are not believeable from Charlie Martin on down. This man has been a congressman and senator for twenty years and is just now discovering that politics is a manipulative business, give me a break. The whole book is full of these fantasies so don't invest a lot of money in it.
Rating:
Summary: serio-comic political novel
Review: This novel is a compelling sequel to "Primary Colors" and while similar in some ways, there are also significant differences. For one thing, this novel is placed in the Midwest,perhaps Nebraska, not the South, a significant difference, and there is less emphasis on New York atmospherics than in "Primary Colors", although they are not completely absent. "Primary Colors" is narrated by a black man and there is correspondingly more emphasis on blacks in that novel. Also, there is a torrid love interest for the protagonist which is a primary theme of "Running Mate", also absent from "Primary Colors". Finally, because the protagonist, Charlie Martin, is a decorated Vietnam Veteran, there is far more emphasis in "Running Mate" on Vietnam, whereas the primary focus of past wars in "Primary Colors", where it exists at all, is on World War II. Vietnam pervades "Running Mate" like a sick, ghostly presence. Both novels, however, focus on the cut-throat aspects of politics with equal precision and emphasis.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Primary Colors
Review: This one was better than his first book since in Primary Colors you knew the real-life people on which the characters were based so you were left trying to separate fact from fiction. Here you get the politcal stuff in what is really all fiction. It is far less distracting. The book flows very well and it is easy to get absorbed in the charchters.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, engaging, touching
Review: Those expecting a irreverent and occasionally outrageous lampoon of current Washington politicians comparable to that in "Primary Colors" will be disappointed. However, being interested after having read that book,I was surprised and pleased to find "the Running Mate" a good read despite the lukewarm popular press reviews this work has received. Like "Primary Colors" the protagonist is a thinly veiled version of Nebraska senator Bob Kerry. However, Klein clearly admires the model for this character and represents him in a favorable, sensitive light, as opposed to going for the jugular as he did in his earlier book's caricature of Clinton. While it has its moments, unlike "Primary Colors" this is not a cynical work. It sensitively depicts and celebrates the diversity of the nation such as its warm descriptions of the midwest and admiring representation of the iconoclasm typical of New York. It also touchingly describes the profound and often sad impact of the Vietnam experience upon a generation of our "best and brightest" many of whom currently seek to lead the nation. This book incorporates a considerable amount of optimism absent in "Primary Colors". Like "Primary Colors" it has mystery like qualities which keep you riveted. Unexpectedly it is also a romantic novel, though Klein might have been advised that some of the intimate scenes, while tame, diminish the book. This book lacks shock value and does not attempt to draw blood. Though far less sardonic, it is interesting, engaging, and touching. While not a statement piece I found it quite enjoyable.
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