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Book SynopsisThe first ever comprehensive oral history of President Obama’s administration and the complex political machine that created and powered a landmark American presidency. In this candid oral history of a presidential tenure, author Brian Abrams reveals the behind-the-scenes stories that illuminate the eight years of the Obama White House through more than one hundred exclusive interviews. Among those given a voice in this extraordinary account are Obama’s cabinet secretaries; his teams of speechwriters, legal advisers, and campaign strategists; as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who fought for or against his agenda. They recall the early struggles of an idealistic outsider candidate and speak openly about the exacting work that led to cornerstone legislation. They share the failures and dissent that met Obama’s efforts and revisit the paths to his accomplishments. As eyewitnesses to history, their accounts combine to deliver an unfiltered view of Obama’s battle to deliver on his promise of hope and change. This provocative collage of anecdotes, personal reminiscences, and impressions from confidants and critics not only provides an authoritative window into the events that defined an era but also offers the first published account into the making of the forty-fourth president of the United States—one that history will soon not forget.

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Book SynopsisShe has a plan! Get informed about the policies of Massachusetts Senator turned presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren. This concise guide will help you decide quickly if Warren deserves your vote for the Democratic nomination and to take on Donald Trump.Warren’s strong economic background sets her apart; the senator from Massachusetts defines herself as a capitalist first and seeks to make capitalism more equitable for all. She has already proposed sweeping anti-corruption reforms, refused PAC donations to her campaign, rolled out plans for college debt forgiveness and a tax on the super wealthy. Her background as a Harvard economist, author of The Two-Income Trap, and experience as an economic advisor to Barack Obama positions her well to make change happen. Warren’s campaign also features popular Democratic talking points—rebuilding the middle class, ending corruption in Washington, making voting laws more democratic, bringing our troops home and stopping endless war—but it’s her experience that sets her apart. From working the campaign trial for Hillary Clinton to weathering President Trump’s refrain of “Pocahontas” in reference to her claimed Native American heritage, Meet the Candidates 2020: Elizabeth Warren: A Voter’s Guide is your complete handbook to Elizabeth Warren’s resumé, campaign, and what America would look like if she won the presidency in 2020.The Meet the Candidates 2020 series is the informed voter’s guide to making a decision in the 2020 Democratic primary and presidential election. Each book gives an unbiased, political insider’s analysis of each contender, featuring: candidate interviews; an introduction by campaign advisor, Democratic Coalition co-founder, and Dworkin Report host Scott Dworkin; and compilation and writing by Occupy Democrats Editor at Large Grant Stern. In two hours of reading, you’ll understand their defining characteristics, credentials, campaign issues, challenges, presidential chances, and everything else you need to know to decide who should challenge Donald Trump. Whether it’s for Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Julian Castro, Cory Booker, or another, Meet the Candidates is what you need to make an informed vote for president in 2020.

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Book SynopsisWith a focus on presidential leadership, Edwards, Mayer and Wayne address the capacity of chief executives to fulfill their tasks, exercise their powers, and utilize their organizational structures to affect the output of government. Richly illustrated with timely, fascinating examples, this text examines all aspects of the presidency.

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Book SynopsisThe Politics of Congressional Elections is the most authoritative and accessible introduction available on congressional elections and the electoral process. By pairing historical data analysis and original research with fundamental concepts of representation and responsibility, Carson and Jacobson help students develop the tools to evaluate Congress, as well as their own role in the electoral process.The eleventh edition offers an engaging examination of congressional candidates, campaigns, and elections by incorporating coverage of the most recent elections and the changing roles of voters, incumbents, challengers, and campaign contributions. This edition also highlights the impact of the January 6th insurrection, inflation and the economy, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, infrastructure legislation, and the narrowing majorities in both chambers. Brought completely up-to-date with the latest data from the American National Election Study, the Cooperative Election Study, and the Federal Election Commission, and including coverage and analysis of the 2020 and 2022 elections, this seminal work continues to offer a systematic account of what goes on in congressional elections. Moreover, the authors’ framing demonstrates how electoral politics reflect and shape other components of the American political system, with profound consequences for representative government.Key revision highlights include: Updated coverage through the 2022 elections including congressional primaries Expanded analysis of campaign finance and voter behavior in recent elections Updated figures and tables, with color versions available in the e-book and PowerPoint slides Greater emphasis on nationalized politics and a return to more party-centered elections Enhanced analysis of congressional elections data back to the pre–Civil War era. Table of ContentsList of FiguresList of TablesPreface1. Introduction2. The ContextThe Constitutional FrameworkCongressional DistrictsPartisan GerrymanderingRedistricting between CensusesRacial GerrymanderingBipartisan GerrymandersThe Republican Advantage in House DistrictsStates as Electoral UnitsElection LawsPolitical PartiesSocial and Political ContextsConclusion3. Congressional CandidatesThe Incumbency FactorMeasuring the Value of IncumbencyThe Vanishing MarginalsSources of the Incumbency AdvantageThe Institutional Characteristics of CongressChanges in Voting BehaviorConstituency ServiceThe Variability of the Incumbency AdvantageDiscouraging the OppositionMoney in Congressional ElectionsThe Connection between Money and SuccessWhy Campaign Money Is More Important to Challengers Than to IncumbentsThe Career in the DistrictMotivating Challengers4. Congressional CampaignsCampaign MoneyContributions to CandidatesPACsPACs and the Pivotal 1994 ElectionParty MoneyContributions from Other Members of CongressSelf-Financing by CandidatesFund-Raising Tactics and DonorsIndependent, Voter-Education, and Issue-Advocacy CampaignsCampaign OrganizationsCampaign StrategiesCampaign MediaPersonal CampaigningCampaign MessagesChallengers’ CampaignsGoing NegativeIncumbents’ Campaigns Candidates for Open SeatsSenate CampaignsManipulating TurnoutConclusion5. Congressional VotersTurnout in Congressional ElectionsWho Votes?Partisanship in Congressional ElectionsAlternative Interpretations of Party IdentificationPartisanship and VotingPartisanship and IncumbencyInformation and VotingRecall and Recognition of CandidatesContacting VotersChanging Evaluations of Incumbents6. National Politics and Congressional ElectionsPolitical Interpretations of Congressional ElectionsModels of Aggregate Congressional Election ResultsPresidential CoattailsNational Conditions and Strategic PoliticsCampaign ThemesHouse Elections, 1992–20221992–20002002–20102012-2020The 2022 Midterm ElectionSenate Elections, 1992–20221992–20002002–20102012-2020The 2022 Senate ElectionsConclusion7. Elections, Representation, and the Politics of CongressRepresentationPolicy CongruenceConstituents, Interests, and CausesRepresentation by ReferendumDescriptive RepresentationPolicy ConsequencesParticularismServing the OrganizedResponsiveness without ResponsibilityThe Congressional Parties: Decline and RevivalThe Revival of Party Cohesion, 1980–2022Ideological Polarization in Congress and the ElectoratePolarization in Presidential SupportParty Polarization: The Electoral ConnectionDiverging Electoral ConstituenciesChicken or Egg?The Downside of Strong Party GovernmentThe Public’s Evaluations of CongressReforming CongressTerm Limits2024 and Beyond: Geography, Demography, and Nationalized PoliticsBibliographyIndexAbout the Authors

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Book SynopsisPolsby and Wildavsky’s classic text, now updated by Stephen Schier and David Hopkins, argues that the institutional rules of the presidential nomination and election processes, in combination with the behavior of the mass electorate, structure the strategic choices faced by politicians in powerful and foreseeable ways. We can make sense of the decisions made by different political actors—incumbents, challengers, Democrats, Republicans, consultants, party officials, activists, delegates, journalists, and voters—by understanding the ways in which their world is organized by incentives, regulations, events, resources, customs, and opportunities. Thoroughly revised and updated, this Sixteenth Edition provides everything students need to know about presidential elections going into the 2024 cycle.Table of ContentsList of Figures, Tables, and BoxesPrefacePART I. THE STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT1. VOTERSWhy People Don’t VoteWhy People Do Vote: A Theory of Social ConnectednessParty Identification as Social IdentityParties as Aggregates of Loyal VotersIdeologies, Issues, and National Conditions in the Minds of VotersChanges in Party Identification: Social Habit versus Contemporary EvaluationA Central Strategic Problem: The Attentiveness of Voters2. GROUPSThe Presidential Vote as an Aggregation of Interest GroupsVariations among Interest Groups“Special” Interests, Campaign Spending, and Public Interest GroupsPolitical Parties as OrganizationsThird Parties3. RULES AND RESOURCESRules: The Electoral CollegeThinking About ResourcesResources: MoneyResources: Control over InformationIncumbency as a Resource: The PresidencyIncumbency as a Liability: The Vice PresidencyThe Balance of ResourcesPART II. SEQUENCES4. THE NOMINATION PROCESSBefore the Voting Begins: The “Invisible Primary”The Early StatesWhat Do These Historical Vignettes Teach?Super Tuesday and Later PrimariesState and Territorial CaucusesDelegate AllocationSuperdelegatesAn Ever-Changing Nomination ProcessThe National Party ConventionsThe Convention as AdvertisingThe Vice Presidential NomineeThe Future of National Conventions5. THE CAMPAIGNThe Well-Traveled CandidatesPersuading VotersWinning the Media GameCampaign ProfessionalsTelevised DebatesGetting Out the VoteCampaign BlundersForecasting the OutcomeCounting the VotePART III. ISSUES6. APPRAISALSReform upon ReformThe Political Theory of Policy GovernmentReform by Means of Participatory DemocracySome Specific ReformsParty Platforms and Party Differences7. AMERICAN PARTIES AND DEMOCRACYElections and Public PolicyParties of Advocacy versus Parties of IntermediationAPPENDIXESA. Vote by Groups in Presidential Elections, 1984–2020B. Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections, by Population Characteristics, 1984–2020C. Selections from the Democratic and Republican Party Platforms, 2020NotesIndex

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Book SynopsisLong established as a leading introduction to the American presidency, Presidential Leadership, Thirteenth Edition, provides students with a comprehensive survey that addresses the capacity of chief executives to fulfill their tasks, exercise their powers, and utilize their organizational structures to affect the output of government. The authors examine all aspects of the presidency in rich detail, including the president’s powers, presidential history, and the institution of the presidency.Table of ContentsList of Tables, Figures, and PhotosPrefaceAbout the AuthorsChapter 1 – IntroductionChapter 2 – The Powers of the PresidencyChapter 3 – The Nomination ProcessChapter 4 – The Presidential ElectionChapter 5 – The President and the PublicChapter 6 – Leading the PublicChapter 7 – The President and the MediaChapter 8 – The Structure of the PresidencyChapter 9 – Presidential Decision MakingChapter 10 – The President and the ExecutiveChapter 11 – The President and CongressChapter 12 – The President and the JudiciaryChapter 13 – Domestic and Economic Policy MakingChapter 14 – Foreign and Defense PolicyAppendix A -- Methods for Studying the PresidencyAppendix B -- Nonelectoral Succession, Removal, and TenureAppendix C -- Provisions of the Constitution of the United States Relating to the PresidencyAppendix D -- 2020 Presidential Election ResultsNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisOne of the UK's most experienced and respected diplomats reveals the inside story behind his resignation—and his perspective on the challenges of Brexit and the Trump White House. '@realDonaldTrump: The wacky ambassador that the UK foisted on the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy . . . We will no longer deal with him.' Kim Darroch is one of the UK's most experienced and respected diplomats, and this unvarnished, behind-the-scenes account will reveal the inside story behind his resignation; describe the challenges of dealing with the Trump White House; and offer a diplomat's perspective on Brexit, and how it looked to Britain's closest ally. Darroch was the British Ambassador to the US as the age of Trump dawned and Brexit unfolded. He explains why the British embassy expected a Trump victory from as early as February 2016, what part every key figure—from Steve Bannon to Sarah Sanders—has played in Trump's administration, and what balanced policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic should consider during this era of seismic change and populist politics. A riveting account from the best-informed insider, Collateral Damage charts the strangest and most convulsive period in the recent history of Britain and the US—and shows how thirty months threatened to overturn three centuries of history.

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Book SynopsisThe Arab world is experiencing a variety of factors - internal and external - that are leading to change. This work examines such factors that are shaping political liberalisation and democratisation in the Arab context, as well as the role played by particular social groups.

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Book SynopsisDoes Alaska's reliance on oil and gas mean that it inevitably will be controlled by corporate energy interests? Or can the state use its vast resource holdings to manage a more symmetrical partnership? ""The Political Economy of Oil in Alaska"" investigates the complex relationship Alaska has with its most precious commodity.Offering a new perspective on the challenges of oil-dependent development, the authors explore the dynamic balance between the power of a subnational government - as the owner of resources, possessor of fiscal authority, and regulator of safety and environmental conditions - and the ability of Big Oil to develop energy resources, affect the state economy, and influence state policies. The result is a comprehensive study of an often contentious alliance.It investigates the complex relationship Alaska has with its most precious commodity - oil - and with the corporations that bring that oil to market.Trade ReviewThis well-documented volume is necessary reading for anyone interested in the politics of oil, regardless of geographical region. - Carl Shepro, University of Alaska, AnchorageTable of ContentsIntroduction.; A Brief History of Oil in Alaska.; Campaigns, Elections, and the Influence of Oil.; Petroleum Revenues and Tax Policy.; Oil Supply, Budgets, and Expenditures.; Economic Development and State Ownership of Oil and Gas.; Managing the Wealth.; Protecting the Environment.; Conclusions.

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Book SynopsisAmerican Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith is the companion volume to an exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that celebrates the bold and radical experiment to test a wholly new form of government. Democracy is still a work in progress, but it is at the core of our nation's political, economic, and social life. This lavishly illustrated book explores democracy from the Revolution to the present using objects from the museum's collection, such as the portable writing box that Thomas Jefferson used while composing the Declaration of Independence, the inkstand with which Abraham Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation, Susan B. Anthony's iconic red shawl, and many more. Not only famous voices are presented: like democracy itself, the book and the exhibition preserve the voice of the people by showcasing campaign materials, protest signs, and a host of other items from everyday life that reflect the promises and challenges of American democracy throughout the nation's history.

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Book SynopsisIn A Nation of Takers: America’s Entitlement Epidemic, one of our country’s foremost demographers, Nicholas Eberstadt, details the exponential growth in entitlement spending over the past fifty years. As he notes, in 1960, entitlement payments accounted for well under a third of the federal government’s total outlays. Today, entitlement spending accounts for a full two-thirds of the federal budget. Drawing on an impressive array of data and employing a range of easy-to-read, four-color charts, Eberstadt shows the unchecked spiral of spending on a range of entitlements, everything from Medicare to disability payments. But Eberstadt does not just chart the astonishing growth of entitlement spending, he also details the enormous economic and cultural costs of this epidemic. He powerfully argues that while this spending certainly drains our federal coffers, it also has a very real, long-lasting, negative impact on the character of our citizens. Also included in the book is a response from one of our leading political theorists, William Galston. In his incisive response, he questions Eberstadt’s conclusions about the corrosive effect of entitlements on character and offers his own analysis of the impact of American entitlement growth.

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Book SynopsisThe 1856 presidential race was the most violent peacetime election in American history. War between proslavery and antislavery settlers raged in Kansas; a congressman shot an Irish immigrant at a Washington hotel; and another congressman beat a US senator senseless on the floor of the Senate. But amid all the violence, the campaign of the new Republican Party, headed by famed explorer John C. FrÉmont, offered a ray of hope: a major party dedicated to limiting the spread of slavery. For the first time, women and African Americans actively engaged in a presidential contest, and the candidate’s wife, Jessie Benton FrÉmont, played a central role in both planning and executing strategy, and was a public face of the campaign. Even enslaved blacks in the South took hope from FrÉmont’s crusade.The 1856 campaign was also run against the backdrop of a country on the move, with settlers continuing to spread westward facing unimagined horrors, a terrible natural disaster that took hundreds of lives in the South, and one of the most famous Supreme Court cases in history, which set the stage for the Civil War. FrÉmont lost, but his strong showing in the North proved that a sectional party could win a national election, blazing the trail for Abraham Lincoln’s victory four years later.

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Book SynopsisAt a time of much despair over the future of liberal democracy, Jill Lepore makes a stirring case for the nation in This America, a follow-up to her much-celebrated history of the United States, These Truths. With dangerous forms of nationalism on the rise, Lepore, a Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer, repudiates nationalism here by explaining its long history—and the history of the idea of the nation itself—while calling for a “new Americanism”: a generous patriotism that requires an honest reckoning with America’s past. Lepore begins her argument with a primer on the origins of nations, explaining how liberalism, the nation-state, and liberal nationalism, developed together. Illiberal nationalism, however, emerged in the United States after the Civil War—resulting in the failure of Reconstruction, the rise of Jim Crow, and the restriction of immigration. Much of American history, Lepore argues, has been a battle between these two forms of nationalism, liberal and illiberal, all the way down to the nation’s latest, bitter struggles over immigration. Defending liberalism, as This America demonstrates, requires making the case for the nation. But American historians largely abandoned that defense in the 1960s when they stopped writing national history. By the 1980s they’d stopped studying the nation-state altogether and embraced globalism instead. “When serious historians abandon the study of the nation,” Lepore tellingly writes, “nationalism doesn’t die. Instead, it eats liberalism.” But liberalism is still in there, Lepore affirms, and This America is an attempt to pull it out. “In a world made up of nations, there is no more powerful way to fight the forces of prejudice, intolerance, and injustice than by a dedication to equality, citizenship, and equal rights, as guaranteed by a nation of laws.” A manifesto for a better nation, and a call for a “new Americanism,” This America reclaims the nation’s future by reclaiming its past.Trade Review"Ambitious.... a thoughtful and passionate defense of her vision of American patriotism.... [Lepore] dedicates her book to her father, 'whose immigrant parents named him Amerigo in 1924, the year Congress passed a law banning immigrants like them. " -- Michael Lind, New York Times"A sharp, short history of nationalism.... A frank, well-written look at the dangers we face. We ignore them at our peril. " -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"Urgent and pithy… Readers seeking clear and relevant definitions of political concepts will appreciate this brisk yet thorough, frank, and bracing look at the ancient origins of the nation state versus the late-eighteenth-century coinage of the term ‘nationalism’ and its alignment with exclusion and prejudice. " -- Booklist"A hopeful book for all who believe that America's ideals are stronger than our demagogues. " -- Michael Bloomberg

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Book SynopsisEvery major decision governing our diverse, majority-female, and increasingly liberal country bears the stamp of the United States Senate, an institution controlled by people who are almost exclusively white, overwhelmingly male, and disproportionately conservative. Although they do not represent a majority of Americans—and will not for the foreseeable future—today’s Republican senators possess the power to block most legislation. Once known as “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” the Senate has become one of the greatest threats to our democracy. How did this happen? In Kill Switch, Senate insider Adam Jentleson contends that far from reflecting the Framers’ vision, the Senate has been transformed over the decades by a tenacious minority of white conservatives. From John Calhoun in the mid-1800s to Mitch McConnell in the 2010s, their primary weapon has been the filibuster, or the requirement that most legislation secure the support of a supermajority of senators. Yet, as Jentleson reveals, the filibuster was not a feature of the original Senate and, in allowing a determined minority to gridlock the federal government, runs utterly counter to the Framers’ intent. For much of its history, the filibuster was used primarily to prevent civil rights legislation from becoming law. But more recently, Republicans have refined it into a tool for imposing their will on all issues, wielding it to thwart an increasingly progressive American majority represented by Barack Obama’s agenda and appointees. Under Donald Trump, McConnell merged the filibuster with rigid leadership structures initially forged by Lyndon Johnson, in the process surrendering the Senate’s independence and centrality, as infamously shown by its acquiescence in Trump’s impeachment trial. The result is a failed institution and a crippled democracy. Taking us into the Capitol Hill backrooms where the institution’s decline is most evident, Jentleson shows that many of the greatest challenges of our era—partisan polarization, dark money, a media culture built on manufactured outrage—converge within the Senate. Even as he charts the larger forces that have shaped the institution where he served, Jentleson offers incisive portraits of the powerful senators who laid the foundation for the modern Senate, from Calhoun to McConnell to LBJ’s mentor, Richard Russell, to the unapologetic racist Jesse Helms. An essential, revelatory investigation, Kill Switch ultimately makes clear that unless we immediately and drastically reform the Senate’s rules and practices—starting with reforming the filibuster—we face the prospect of permanent minority rule in America.Trade Review"Adam Jentleson’s Kill Switch is the most exquisitely timed book I’ve encountered in years. Jentleson’s explanation of the filibuster’s ignominious roots, and of the mendacious arguments made today by its defenders, is careful and thorough and exacting. Every senator should be forced to read it and then reread it." -- Michael Tomasky - New York Review of Books"[An] excellent, surprising new book . . . Jentleson is knowledgeable and adept, offering an account of increasingly flagrant obstruction that culminates in the age of McConnell." -- Benjamin Wallace-Wells - The New Yorker"An impeccably timed book. . . . In Kill Switch, Jentleson explains how ‘the world’s greatest deliberative body’ has come to carry out its work without much greatness or even deliberation, serving instead as a place where ambitious legislation goes to die. . . . [Jentleson’s] intimacy with the Senate turns out to be his book’s greatest strength. Jentleson understands the inner workings of the institution, down to the most granular details, showing precisely how arcane procedural rules can be leveraged to dramatic effect." -- Jennifer Szalai - New York Times"[L]eading Democrats, including Reid and former president Barack Obama, are pressing for a sweeping rehab of the “home” Biden has found so comfortable. Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy, a new book by Adam Jentleson, makes for a powerful brief on their behalf… a compelling read." -- Kathy Kiely - Washington Post"[A]n important new book… Adam Jentleson offers a harrowing portrait of how anti-majoritarian dysfunction has paralyzed the U.S. Senate… he writes with an insider’s knowledge… As the Senate has deviated further and further from majoritarian norms, the House and the state legislatures have followed. Among the great merits of Jentleson’s Kill Switch is that it reminds us how recent this trend is." -- David Frum - The Atlantic"[P]erfectly timed… authoritative and well-documented." -- Lloyd Green - The Guardian"[A] powerful historical account." -- Julian Zelizer - CNN.com"[C]harts the rise and repeated mutations of the filibuster… Jentleson assesses the chamber without the institutional nostalgia that tends to infect its alumni. He ably punctures the propaganda its advocates created to defend it (primarily a tool to allow the South from being outnumbered in Congress by the North, first on slavery, and later on civil rights)." -- Jonathan Chait - New York"[A] well-crafted call for reform… lively and effective… enlivened with war stories… Jentleson’s point in retelling the history is to drive a truck through defenders’ two leading talking points. First, the filibuster was never about the principle of unlimited debate. That was always a fig leaf for minority power. Second, its effects are not symmetric; no reason to cool it on reform because the shoe will eventually be on the other foot. Democrats want more from the federal government and need legislation to enact it." -- Daniel Schlozman - n+1"Informative and timely... A startling read that will provoke tough questions about governance, this is highly recommended to all interested in government reform." -- Library Journal, starred review"Engrossing... Jentleson skillfully clarifies many arcane legislative procedures and brings a wide range of historical episodes to vivid life. Readers will be galvanized to make the issue of Senate reform a priority." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review"In Kill Switch, Adam Jentleson has created both an essential portrait of a Senate—and a political system—in crisis, as well as a crystal-clear analysis of how to save it. Combining prodigious research with the experience of serving at the right hand of Harry Reid, this is a necessary book for understanding why the Senate has become the key impediment to governance in America. Every member of the US Senate should read it, and so should the rest of us." -- Ezra Klein, New York Times bestselling author of Why We’re Polarized"Kill Switch is a damning account of how a tool honed to maintain white supremacy has come to cost us all. After reading Jentleson's book, you'll understand why President Obama called the filibuster a Jim Crow relic, and you'll want to join the movement to end it, for the sake of our economy, our democracy, and our planet." -- Heather McGhee, author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together"Adam Jentleson is a creature of the Senate and no one understands it better than he does. This iconic American institution has been severely damaged by feckless Republican senators who kowtow to every erratic action of Donald Trump. Jentleson understands restoring the Senate to the Framer’s vision as an exceptionally strong deliberative body is essential to restoring our democracy." -- Harry Reid, former U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader"The Senate is now profoundly rigged, with rules that make it easy to pass tax cuts for the rich and to pack the courts for the powerful, but allow the minority party to block bills to assist ordinary families. The Senate is now the graveyard for bills to improve health care, housing, education, worker rights, or to tackle issues like criminal justice, immigration, gun safety, or climate chaos. The biggest culprit of this corrupted, paralyzed Senate is the filibuster, which was born out of the determination of white, wealthy, privileged interests to block civil rights for minority Americans. If you want to understand the Senate’s descent, and its potential path back to relevance, and how vital that path is to restoring a government ‘of, by, and for the people,’ then this book is essential reading." -- Senator Jeff Merkley"[A] must-read." -- Anand Giridharadas, bestselling author of Winners Take All"The Senate is the epicenter of American political dysfunction: the place where ideas with broad support are sent to die while those backed by plutocrats and extremists are set into law. In this analytically rich yet highly readable insider account, Adam Jentleson shows why today’s undemocratic Senate is an affront to the Framers’ vision—and how we can fix it." -- Jacob Hacker, best-selling coauthor of Let Them Eat Tweets and Winner-Take-All Politics"A provocative portrait of a dysfunctional—by design, it seems—U.S. Senate.... The Senate has been in a long state of decline, writes Jentleson, public affairs director at Democracy Forward and former deputy chief of staff to Sen. Harry Reid.... An astute and maddening account of a broken institution and, in turn, a broken democracy." -- Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisWhile there haven't been many Secret Service related books about U.S. presidents, the ones still in print (and even those long out of print) are often sanitized memoirs of a politically correct nature or "tell-all" tabloid historical junk meant merely for entertainment purposes. The Not-So-Secret Service provides the facts with the bark off, so to speak, and reveals politically incorrect information of a decidedly unsafe nature. It may be controversial and against the grain, but this book is heavily documented and timely, as the Secret Service guards our political candidates, foreign dignitaries, and, of course, the President, the first family and the ex-presidents and their families.Trade Review"Vince Palamara is the foremost authority on the secret service in the 60s. He is a personal friend of mine and a very good researcher" -- former Secret Service agent Abraham Bolden"I am impressed with your research, accuracy and willingness to 'tell it like it is.'" -- former Secret Service agent Robert Deprospero."You are, unquestionably, the main authority on the Secret Service with regard to the assassination." -- best-selling author Vince Bugliosi"Vincent Michael Palamara, who long has been the preeminent authority on the extraordinary -- and strange -- acts of omission or commission by the Secret Service which made JFK's preventable murder possible." -- Donald E Wilkes Jr, professor emeretus, University of Georgia Law School"Vince Palamara is, with little question, the critical author who has the most knowledge of the failures of the Secret Service in their obligation to protect President Kennedy on November 22, 1963." -- author James Dieugenio

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Book SynopsisEl robo de votos es el asunto clave para la elección del 2020 y Palast es el experto que puede explicar el porqué.Vote theft is the key issue to the 2020 Election and Palast is the expert to explain why.Trump ya se habrá robado el 2020? El robo de votos se consideraba un asunto marginal del cual nadie quería hablar, pero los índices han subido y los hechos han salido a la luz--en gran parte gracias al autor--y ahora se reconoce como uno de los temas decisivos de nuestras elecciones presidenciales. El alcance es abrumador. En la elección de la mitad del mandato del 2018 en Georgia--el campo de pruebas--los funcionarios Republicanos calladamente eliminaron a medio millón de votantes registrados del padrón electoral--incluyendo a Christine Jordan, la prima de 92 años de Martin Luther King. Cómo Trump se robó el 2020 cuenta la historia de los planes racista para robarse la elección del 2020, los operativos políticos detrás del engaño--y los billonarios de ultraderecha que lo financian todo, escrito por el periodista investigativo que cubrió esta historia desde el principio. Has Trump already stolen the 2020 election? Vote theft was once considered to be a marginal issue that no one wanted to talk about, but as the stakes have risen and the facts have become known--in large part thanks to this author--it is now recognized as one of the central issues deciding our presidential elections. The scope is staggering. In the Georgia 2018 midterm election alone--the testing ground--Republican voting officials quietly removed half a million voters from the voter rolls--including Martin Luther King''s ninety-two-year-old cousin Christine Jordan. How Trump Stole 2020 is the story of the racially poisonous schemes to steal the 2020 election, the political operatives behind the trickery---and the hard right billionaires funding it all, written by the investigative reporter who has been covering this story from the outset.

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Book SynopsisWho is Hillary Clinton? is a fascinating time-lapse depiction of the leading Democratic presidential candidate as seen from the left. But it is also much more than that. A carefully-edited anthology of The Nation's coverage of Clinton's career, it's a rigorous and painstaking study of one of our most enigmatic public figures. It is a history of our time, and a must-read for the 2016 election season, providing perspective on the woman who could become the first female President of the United States.Contributors include David Corn, Erica Jong, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Tomasky, William Greider, Ari Berman, Barbara Ehrenreich, Chris Hayes, Jessica Valenti, Richard Kim, Joan Walsh, Jamelle Bouie, Doug Henwood, Heather Digby Parton, Michelle Goldberg, and many more.

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