The People's Choice

Rating:
Summary: Political Junkie Fun
Review: While covering Campaign 2000 late last October, I loaned this book to my boss, who started it... and then, after Election Day, was unable to finish it because Greenfield's imagined fiasco was too close to reality. (In fact, Greenfield said that what happened in the 2000 election put this book to shame.)
Greenfield is television's smartest and most knowledgable commentator about elections, and this comedic novel about the Electoral College -- imagining what might happen if, following the president-elect's death, the electors decided they did not want to make the vice president-elect president -- is full of great historical tidbits. Greenfield is at his best, and seems to be enjoying himself the most, where filling pages with anecdotes about electoral wrinkles in the past. That's where the book shines.
As for the story itself, it is a bit thin, and the ending is less than satisfying. But, especially with the renewed (but now-waning) interest in the Electoral College, this book is a fun read.