Book Review – Race of a Lifetime: How Obama Won the White House

RACE OF A LIFETIME: HOW OBAMA WON THE WHITE HOUSE

By John Heilemann & Mark Halperin

Penguin

After the epic and excessively detailed coverage of the American Presidential election of 2008, it’s hard to believe there is anything left to say.  We saw all the excruciating specifics behind every high, low and humiliating gaffe, day by day for almost 2 years leading up to voting day.  The amount of information ingested around the globe over the course of the latest battle for the White House was historical in its own right.  Perhaps that’s why the book Race of a Lifetime is both important and necessary – it takes the whole story back to basics.  Behind all the public spats, moving speeches and Tina Fey skits is the story of a group of very different people who thought they were best qualified to lead the world.

While political junkies went into information overload during the campaign, until now, no one has given us a look into the private worlds that fired the public warfare.  Journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin saw the gap and have filled it after conducting hundreds of interviews with candidates, staffers and powerbrokers.  They weren’t interested in what we’d all seen every night on the news; they wanted to reveal the behind the scenes action.

What they have delivered is a thrilling, personal insight into the lives and minds of the people that aspired to greatness.  The spotlight they shine shows every one of them as flawed human beings, though some suffer worse under the glare of retrospective honesty.  Barack Obama is far from sanctified, he is often overly confident and prone to occasional mood swings, but he is also shown to be a proactive, self-aware and rational leader of his team.  Hillary Clinton is portrayed as an intelligent, insightful, embattled survivor with a slight persecution complex.  Seeing how Clinton and Obama approach each other is a fascinating look at two very different campaigns, one mired in in-fighting, the other calibrated to overcome all obstacles.  The Clinton-Obama relationship plays out as the main emotional thread in the book.

The most damning portrait is of John Edwards and his wife.  Their campaign of delusion is quickly unraveled before our eyes, a car crash of personal scandal and self deception that is only now fully clear.  John McCain comes across as startlingly under-prepared for the whole campaign.  It’s also fascinating to be introduced to the staffers who made everything happen – their individual power plays and agendas will make you yearn for one more season of The West Wing just so this fabulous new material can be integrated.

The cleverest conceit of Race of a Lifetime is that it isn’t written as a text book, but instead has the narrative style usually found only in fiction novels.  Every bump in the road feels like a plot twist, and there are plenty of those.  Almost everyone gets a comeback of some description, and then there’s that final act reveal that no one saw coming.

McCain was due to announce his running mate any minute now.  The Democratic ticketmates wondered who it would be – and then, like that, Axelrod appeared in the forward cabin and broke the news.

“Wow,” said Obama, picking his jaw up off the floor.  “Well, I guess she’s change.”

But Biden looked confused.  Swiveling his head, speaking for millions, he blurted out, “Who’s Sarah Palin?”

We all reacted differently to the Sarah Palin chestnut, but now we get to find out just how her running mate and competitors really fared when they tried to figure out what to do with her.  It’s predictably hilarious, and concerning.

Some readers, the true political nuts, might find the book a little too light on policy and heavy on character for their taste.  It can also prove a struggle initially keeping up with a wide range of characters with ever-evolving responsibilities.  But if you want a truly personal insight into a gripping moment in history, this is the place to start.  It’s not a verdict on Barack Obama’s victory, nor does it try to guess at anything that would come after the win.  It simply offers a fascinating look at the people who rule our world and how they got there.

RRP: $32.95

Buy it online