Your Reference Library

With the school year in full swing, it felt like the right time to leaf through three of the latest academic works on the political process. From the rules of presidential primaries to the importance of campaigns to a panoramic view of the electoral landscape, each of the following books will earn a place on your bookshelf. Consider yourself warned: These books are more Britannica than Dan Brown.The Almanac Of American Politics 2010Michael Barone with Richard E. Cohen, National Journal Group, $79.95
If you read this magazine, you are undoubtedly familiar with this biennial bible of American politics. The 2010 edition, like its predecessors, is the best one-stop shop for maps, electoral history, demographics, biographies and trends in every state and congressional district. 
This year’s edition includes an introduction from Barone in which he analyzes Barack Obama’s win and considers whether it and the Democrats’ success in congressional elections mark a turning point in politics. As always, Barone dives deep into the numbers and comes up with some particularly interesting stats relating to the effectiveness of the presidential campaigns. The Almanac provides the breakdown of last year’s presidential results that you will fill the echo chamber through 2012: There were 34 House districts held by Republicans that voted for Obama and 49 Democratic-controlled districts that McCain carried. Obama carried 64 House districts that George W. Bush won in 2004.Campaigns And Elections American StyleJames A. Thurber and Candice J. Nelson, Westview Press, $32.00
In this third edition, Thurber and Nelson, professors at American University, set out to bring together two groups of political professionals for a post-mortem on the 2008 presidential election: campaign consultants and political scientists. The ensuing discussion between academics and campaign strategists is a useful how-to guide for running a campaign. The book covers nearly every aspect of campaigning: fundraising,
the media, general strategy, polling and digital technologies.
Nelson engages in one of the classic debates among political scientists: Whether campaigns influence elections or if results are predetermined by empirical data—such as approval ratings, demographic trends and the state of the economy. “As the contributors to this book argue, campaigns matter,” Nelson writes. “While the economic crisis in 2008, the unpopular war in Iraq and President George Bush’s low approval ratings clearly contributed to a political environment favorable to any Democratic candidate, the trategic decisions and messages of the Obama campaign undoubtedly contributed to his election as the forty-fourth president of the United States.” While it rehashes the conventional narrative of the 2008 presidential race in multiple entries, it does, however, also provide useful nuggets—such as the number of campaign offices the McCain and Obama camps had in battleground states and a guide to reading survey data from veteran GOP pollsters Glen Bolger and Neil Newhouse.Primary Politics: How Presidential Candidates Have Shaped The Modern Nominating SystemElaine Kamarck, Brookings Institution Press, $18.95
As a member of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, Kamarck provides an insider’s perspective and plenty of context to how the Democrats’ befuddling primary rules came to be. Her book provides an entry point for how politics and, in particular, presidential candidates have shaped primary rules. Kamarck, a lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, carefully traces the primary process by focusing on how individuals manipulated the system in an attempt to ensure their best result.
The best example of this is Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential run. Kamarck writes that Carter was the first candidate who fully understood how to build momentum by using the primary system. Carter ran in 30 primaries that year to prove his viability, gaining momentum along the way—starting as an unknown but eventually capturing the Democratic nomination. Four years later then-President Carter faced a possible primary challenge from California Gov. Jerry Brown and dedicated some of his White House staff to change the primary sequence to his own advantage. First, he wanted primaries and caucuses to start as late as possible, which would give challengers less time to build momentum. Second, he wanted southern states—his base—near the beginning of the sequence. And third, he wanted several contests to take place on the same day, making it difficult for an underfunded challenger to compete in them all. Hence the birth of Super Tuesday.<!–BANNER SPACE 13–>