Whatever It Takes: The Real Struggle for Political Power in America - Softcover

Drew, Elizabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140268588 ISBN 13: 9780140268584

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1998

Synopsis

Argues that the real contest for political power in 1996 was not the presidential election, but the fight for control of the House of Representatives

About this title

About the Author:

Elizabeth Drew, a former correspondent for The New Yorker, is the author of nine books on national politics, and appears regularly as a commentator on The News Hours with Jim Lehrer, National Public Radio, and Meet the Press. She lives in Washington, D.C.

From Booklist:

Drew's franchise in instant beltway political history (10 books since the mid-seventies, most recently On the Edge (1994) and Showdown (1996), continues with a thoughtful examination of the 1996 elections, treating the presidential contest as "only a component" in "the real struggle [over] who will have hegemony in our politics for the next ten to fifteen years." Drew's is a character-driven narrative, focusing on key lobbyists and activists on the Right (Americans for Tax Reform, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the Christian Coalition, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the National Rifle Association) and the Left (the AFL-CIO and EMILY's List) and following the reelection fights of three GOP congressmen (in Washington, Massachusetts, and Iowa) as well as the Clinton and Dole campaigns and the "total war" fund-raising on all sides. There are few heroes in Whatever It Takes; it may well engender cynicism, not activism, for serious campaign finance reform. But Drew's study is full of useful information and should undoubtedly circulate in libraries where her previous political studies have drawn readers. Mary Carroll

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0140268588
• ISBN 13: 9780140268584
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320