First published 2013
Washington Post correspondent Daniel Balz delivers an insider account of the 2012 presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Drawing on deep sources within both campaigns, Balz chronicles how Obama transformed from the hopeful candidate of 2008 into an embattled incumbent wrestling with congressional gridlock, healthcare controversies, ongoing war, and economic stagnation. The president faced Mitt Romney, a former corporate executive and Massachusetts governor whose wealth and business record initially clashed with Republican voters until he selected Tea Party favorite Paul Ryan as his running mate. Balz follows both candidates from the vicious Republican primaries through the general election battlegrounds, revealing the strategic calculations and personal struggles that shaped this pivotal race. The book examines what this contentious election revealed about American democracy and the nation's political future.
Genres: american, political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, journalism, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: insider-perspective, political-drama
Setting: Washington
Period: 2012
400 pages · Hardcover · Viking