Politics Lost

New in book stores this week and on my list of things to read is Politics Lost : How American Democracy Was Trivialized By People Who Think You're Stupid by Joe Klein.

Klein is the author formerly known as "Anonymous" who made millions on his novel Primary Colors a few years back. He picked up a bit of a reputation for smarminess when he steadfastly denied that he wrote that book. Primary Colors was a just-barely-disguised fictional account of the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. It was later made into a movie with John Travolta playing the womanizing, donut-guzzling candidate and Emma Thompson as the suffering yet always savvy Hillary.

In this latest book, Klein writes of his experiences during eight presidential campaigns - starting in 1968 and continuing through the 2004 election.