Rating: 
Summary: Is all really fair?
Review: ALL'S FAIR lively describes what happened behind the presidential campaign of both parties, plus the Perot camp in 1992 in most vivid (and vulgar at times) spoken language.
It makes me long for the 2004 presidential race, in such a way that Hillary decides to run at the end, forcing Carville to leave CNN to run her campaign to repeat the success of her husband. It remains mystery, however, how those two (now) talking heads remain happily married with kids.
Though, in this book, both Carville and Matalin remained rigidly royal in defending their clients (Clinton and Bush) against various accusations, in real life after the 92 election, Clinton ended up acknowledging his womanizing behind the green door of White House library to embarrass his country to the rest of the world in an unprecedented fashion, while Bush Sr. continues his activities which are highly suspected of conflicts of interest, not withstanding what his son is doing in the White House right now. Is ALL really FAIR?
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful book by two master strategists
Review: Even though the Clinton vs. Bush campaign was 12 years ago, this book is well worth a re-visit. The book is relatively long but I found every page of high interest.
Mary Matalin's sections on the Bush re-election were wonderful reading and I am an avowed liberal. She perfectly captured the patrician nobility of Bush Senior and the campaign that destroyed itself. From the disasterous reign of John Sununu as Chief of Staff, the tragic death of Lee Atwater, the paralysis of Margaret Tutwiler, the insanity of Ross Perot, the mean-spiritedness of Patrick Buchanan, the shrill defeatism of Rich Bonds, and the often confused and muddled voice of an out of touch President, George Bush, the characters are vividly drawn and almost sympathetic.
Carville on the other hand is masterful in his analysis of the consciousness of the American Everyman. The strength of Carville's strategy is common sense played offensively. He respects the middle class American sense of irony and skepticism trying to move toward optimism and problem solving.
Even though the book is 478 pages long, it is really a fast read. Both Matalin and Carville are witty, strategic professionals with years of experience. I didn't get the book to read a sappy love story and I was glad the book focused on the considerable professional experiences of this couple rather than on their fledgling romance.
Carville's desciptions of Bill Clinton do the man justice as a flawed but brilliant leader. Matalin's desciptions of George Bush do the man justice as a man who believes his class, gender, and race was destined for leadership but he just can't navigate the reality of the average American experience.
Where both Matalin and Carville converge is in their perspectives on Patrick Buchanan, a mean hateful old man, and Ross Perot, a crazy old man.
Besides a blow by blow detailed story of the Clinton vs. Bush campaigns from beginning to end, the book is full of political wisdom and strategy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Political Book!
Review: Even though this book is almost 500 pages, I really sped right through it. If you are a political nut like I am, you will absolutely love this book. It mainly focuses on the 1992 presidential election (if you are looking for intense details of Matalin and Carville's relationship, you are looking at the wrong book) But it offers so much. It really is a he said/she said blow-by-blow account of the entire election. The format for this book is the best possible one. It keeps in interesting, entertaining, easy-to-follow and enjoyable. I could hardly believe that at certain points Matalin caused me, an avowed liberal, to feel sorry for Bush over his loss for reelection. I could hardly put this book down, and loved it throughout. Read this book if you are into politics, election campaigns, or stategies. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: from the Romeo and Juliet of American politics
Review: Ever since I saw the documentary "The War Room," I have been a huge fan of James Carville's. It also helps that I am a big liberal Democrat. However, for the longest time I did not know that he was married to Mary Matalin, a longtime top Republican strategist. I also was unaware of the fact that they were more or less opposite numbers in the 1992 campaign, when Carville worked for Bill Clinton, and Matalin for President George H.W. Bush.
This book shows the inner workings and machinations of both the Clinton and Bush campaigns in 1992, from the viewpoints of Carville and Matalin respectively.
The book is written in turn; first Carville tells a little of what was happening in the Clinton camp, then Matalin offers the contemporary perspective of the Bush camp. This style works really well. At some points it develops into quasi-conversation, as if they were speaking to each other. There is ample room for the airing of their own personal views of what was going on as well.
There were two overriding themes in the book: the way Carville ran Clinton's operation, best known as The War Room, clearly changed the way political campaigns are conducted in this nation, and, partially because of the innovations of The War Room the Bush effort was off its game big-time. At times it was amazing to see the sheer ineptitude of the Bush campaign, such as when Mary Matalin describes how the White House and the Bush campaign were unwilling or unable to effectively coordinate their activities until the Republican convention.
There is also a lot of discussion of how the media, especially television and newspapers, influence the way a campaign is run these days. Predictably, there is a healthy amount of negativity expressed toward the press, especially Matalin's railing at the so-called liberal media, even though Carville makes some good arguments that Clinton was not receiving the best coverage, either.
A must-have for anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of political campaigns, especially for people who want to get involved in the higher operations of politics.
Rating:
Summary: Small Arms Fire
Review: I know that this is the first book I have ever read with two senior people on the opposite sides of a presidential campaign combining on one book. As far as I know this might be the only one out there like it. Just the fact that both sides of the total campaign were discussed point by point would be enough to give this book a high rating, but these two authors (and probably the added professional writer) helped to make this book a very entertaining read. The authors struck the right balance between the exciting blow by blow of the campaign and the day to day decisions that most people would find dull. It was just so interesting reading both sides of each issue as it came up in the race. Reading how each side perceived a situation and then reacted gave the reader a rich understanding of how the campaign played out.
The one area that I found a bit annoying was the rabid partisanship of Mary Matalin. I actually thought that James Carville would be the rip it up partisan trash talker that was going to spell out the red meat attack on every issue. Now I tend to lean a little left so I at first thought it was just my liberal sensitivities getting a bit out of joint, but the more I read and tried to be fair I really got a negative view of Matalin. It is one thing to attack Clinton, heck stand in line, but the over blown attacks on average Democrats was a bit much. It just made me doubt much of what she said when balance was required and it eliminated any sympathy I should have had for her being she was on the losing side.
Another area I found interesting was how much she truly respected and adored President Bush. Now this might be a symptom of any campaign worker, but make no mistake about it, Mary held her love for the candidate front and center. With this being said it is understandable that she would take the loss hard and find some avenues to place a little blame, but her dislike of the press was only surpassed by Bill Clinton himself. Every bad decision or misstep on her side was somehow laid at the feet of the press for simply reporting the event. If Clinton was leading in the polls then Matalin made the claim the press was favoring Clinton. It got to be so pervasive that it took on the appearance of the town drunk arguing that he does not have a drinking problem. It might have been an underling factor as to why the Bush team did not pull it out at the end. Overall I really liked the book and if you are a political junkie then so will you.
Rating: 
Summary: DISAPPOINTING
Review: I was very disappointed in this book. The authors are very intelligent and astute, with a keen political sense, and they are excellent TV commentators. I expected them to clue us in on the inside politics of the presidential election and some of the dirty politics that went on. Instead, they rambled incoherently and in a disorganized fashion. I'll never read another political book again.
Rating:
Summary: Romance for obsessive political junkies
Review: James Carville and Mary Matalin (with a rather large assist from Peter Knobler) take the reader behind the scenes of the Clinton and Bush 1992 Presidential campaigns.The incredible behind-the-scenes details are great, and, as a Clinton supporter, it's nice to relive the highlights (Bush being followed by a guy in a chicken suit, Pat Buchanan). I don't know if Bush supporters will enjoy this book as much, although they might enjoy the Matalin sections. The only sour note comes from Matalin herself, who refers to the Clinton campaign as "Clintonistas" and continually harps about the media's (alleged) distortions of Bush and his record, and genuinely, truly seems to despise Bill Clinton. By contrast, Carville is generous to the Bush campaign. All in all, a political junkie's dream.
Rating:
Summary: Acerbic, Fun Commentary on the Clinton Bush Campaign
Review: The two best known bulldogs of American politics come together to recount and conduct a post-mortem on the Clinton Bush presidential campaign: of course, from opposite sides of the political spectrum: Matalin for the GOP and Carville for the Dems. Acerbic and fun insider's perspective on the important events of the campaign, with a little measure of talk on their seemingly surprising stop and start romance. A must for the political junkie.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read...very entertaining and insightful!
Review: This book is a modern day 'He said, She said' for political junkies to enjoy! I have found this book to be very insightful into the inside world of American Politics. Having read many books of advance teams for political campaigns, it's great to gain the insight of one of the most compelling campaigns of my lifetime. (Bush v Clinton) One of the things that surprised me in this book was how much I grew to enjoy reading James' sections of the book. I found myself reading in his voice and thoroughly enjoyed his southern sense of humor.
Great read for political junkies!
Rating:
Summary: For either side of the political spectrum
Review: This book is one of my favorites. I read it for a class in college, and often go back to re-read it. I've purchased several copies as gifts for my politico friends as well. The style goes back and forth between Ms. Matalin and Mr. Carville, almost as if one is listening in on a conversation. They even interrupt one another! It's great fun to read, and definetly fun to quote. Both authors are brilliant people, with big opinions. --Jessica
|
