Customer Reviews

All's Fair: Love, War and Running for President

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For anyone interested in how opposites attract and presidential campaigns are won or lost, "All's Fair" is one of those "must-read" books well worth the time spent in its somewhat long 478 pages.

With able assistance from Peter Knobler, America's favorite political odd couple of James Carville and Mary Matalin explain how they kept their relationship together while simultaneously working against each other's professional goals.

As you may recall, the Democratic Carville helped manage President Clinton's successful bid for the White House in 1992, while Republican Matalin was a major figure in the reelection campaign of President Bush. The two have since appeared frequently as commentators on NBC's "Meet the Press," and even in an antacid commercial

In this account, however, Carville and Matalin avoid most of the pitfalls of the typical partisan memoir by using an even-handed "he said/she said" approach that usually provides equal time for these two very different people. Although the subtitle is "Love, War, and Running for President," those looking for intimate, melodramatic details of their weird alliance will be disappointed. Both Carville and Matalin do an admirable job of maintaining their individual dignity and conjugal privacy. Indeed, 80 percent of "All's Fair" is about the difficult business of public life. Only 20 percent concerns their personal feelings. And yet, that 20 percent gives this story a human dimension often lacking in more conventional election histories.

This book makes several other things clear:

* Carville may be the more colorful and quotable media critic (he has very valid points about pack-journalism, polls, and press self-indulgence) but Matalin is far more astute and perceptive about how the editorial news-gathering process operates. She understands how reporters try to be fair; he jokes darkly about "feeding the Beast."

* Matalin tends to get bogged down in political minutiae. At least in the '92 race, Carville had a better gut instinct for how the average voter feels and thinks.

* Women still are not getting the freedom and respect they deserve in their careers. It's obvious that, at the office, Matalin had to deal with the stigma of her association with Carville to a much greater extent than Carville ever was questioned about Matalin. There is definitely an unfair double-standard in effect.

* Maybe the best chapters are those that cover "a day in the life" of each organization. It's there that you really get a sense of the fears and hopes all those civic-minded campaigners had as they struggled to sort out a daily flood of information overload.

* If this brilliant husband-and-wife team can ever agree on a candidate, watch out! He (or she) will win in a landslide.

James Carville and Mary Matalin are always entertaining to watch on television, no matter what they're talking about, so there was no way this book could have been anything less than massively entertaining. It works outstandingly on two different levels -- first of all, it's a blow by blow of the 1992 presidential election, with a lot of the background scuttlebutt and the inside information. You get a real sense of how disarrayed the Bush campaign was, how amazingly the Clintonistas got over some of their hassles. Secondly, though, it's a profoundly in-depth look at the way in which two people who supposedly could have nothing in common develop love, and in that sense it's very touching. James Carville's puppy-dog slavishness to Bill Clinton reads a little off-key now that Big Bill is coming to the end of his eight controversial years (Monica was still in the future when this book was written), but all in all this is a wonderful book.

Even though the Clinton vs. Bush campaign was 12 years ago, this book is well worth a re-visit. The book is relatively long but I found every page of high interest.

Mary Matalin's sections on the Bush re-election were wonderful reading and I am an avowed liberal. She perfectly captured the patrician nobility of Bush Senior and the campaign that destroyed itself. From the disasterous reign of John Sununu as Chief of Staff, the tragic death of Lee Atwater, the paralysis of Margaret Tutwiler, the insanity of Ross Perot, the mean-spiritedness of Patrick Buchanan, the shrill defeatism of Rich Bonds, and the often confused and muddled voice of an out of touch President, George Bush, the characters are vividly drawn and almost sympathetic.

Carville on the other hand is masterful in his analysis of the consciousness of the American Everyman. The strength of Carville's strategy is common sense played offensively. He respects the middle class American sense of irony and skepticism trying to move toward optimism and problem solving.

Even though the book is 478 pages long, it is really a fast read. Both Matalin and Carville are witty, strategic professionals with years of experience. I didn't get the book to read a sappy love story and I was glad the book focused on the considerable professional experiences of this couple rather than on their fledgling romance.

Carville's desciptions of Bill Clinton do the man justice as a flawed but brilliant leader. Matalin's desciptions of George Bush do the man justice as a man who believes his class, gender, and race was destined for leadership but he just can't navigate the reality of the average American experience.

Where both Matalin and Carville converge is in their perspectives on Patrick Buchanan, a mean hateful old man, and Ross Perot, a crazy old man.

Besides a blow by blow detailed story of the Clinton vs. Bush campaigns from beginning to end, the book is full of political wisdom and strategy.

Even though this book is almost 500 pages, I really sped right through it. If you are a political nut like I am, you will absolutely love this book. It mainly focuses on the 1992 presidential election (if you are looking for intense details of Matalin and Carville's relationship, you are looking at the wrong book) But it offers so much. It really is a he said/she said blow-by-blow account of the entire election. The format for this book is the best possible one. It keeps in interesting, entertaining, easy-to-follow and enjoyable. I could hardly believe that at certain points Matalin caused me, an avowed liberal, to feel sorry for Bush over his loss for reelection. I could hardly put this book down, and loved it throughout. Read this book if you are into politics, election campaigns, or stategies. You will not be disappointed.

Ever since I saw the documentary "The War Room," I have been a huge fan of James Carville's. It also helps that I am a big liberal Democrat. However, for the longest time I did not know that he was married to Mary Matalin, a longtime top Republican strategist. I also was unaware of the fact that they were more or less opposite numbers in the 1992 campaign, when Carville worked for Bill Clinton, and Matalin for President George H.W. Bush.

This book shows the inner workings and machinations of both the Clinton and Bush campaigns in 1992, from the viewpoints of Carville and Matalin respectively.

The book is written in turn; first Carville tells a little of what was happening in the Clinton camp, then Matalin offers the contemporary perspective of the Bush camp. This style works really well. At some points it develops into quasi-conversation, as if they were speaking to each other. There is ample room for the airing of their own personal views of what was going on as well.

There were two overriding themes in the book: the way Carville ran Clinton's operation, best known as The War Room, clearly changed the way political campaigns are conducted in this nation, and, partially because of the innovations of The War Room the Bush effort was off its game big-time. At times it was amazing to see the sheer ineptitude of the Bush campaign, such as when Mary Matalin describes how the White House and the Bush campaign were unwilling or unable to effectively coordinate their activities until the Republican convention.

There is also a lot of discussion of how the media, especially television and newspapers, influence the way a campaign is run these days. Predictably, there is a healthy amount of negativity expressed toward the press, especially Matalin's railing at the so-called liberal media, even though Carville makes some good arguments that Clinton was not receiving the best coverage, either.

A must-have for anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of political campaigns, especially for people who want to get involved in the higher operations of politics.

The two best known bulldogs of American politics come together to recount and conduct a post-mortem on the Clinton Bush presidential campaign: of course, from opposite sides of the political spectrum: Matalin for the GOP and Carville for the Dems. Acerbic and fun insider's perspective on the important events of the campaign, with a little measure of talk on their seemingly surprising stop and start romance. A must for the political junkie.

This book is one of my favorites. I read it for a class in college, and often go back to re-read it. I've purchased several copies as gifts for my politico friends as well.

The style goes back and forth between Ms. Matalin and Mr. Carville, almost as if one is listening in on a conversation. They even interrupt one another! It's great fun to read, and definetly fun to quote. Both authors are brilliant people, with big opinions.

--Jessica

This was an EXCELLENT book that I could not put down. What I learned from it, however, was the genius behind Mr Carville and President Clinton's 1992 campaign. Being a hard-core Republican, however, I cringed when Ms Matalin documented the astronomical Bush campaign screw ups (including numerous gaffes by her). It's no wonder why a great President lost re-election. I would have been embarrased to have this documentation of ineptitude published.

This is one of my all time favorite books. I read it when it first came out and again recently. Its really interesting to read it now with a new George Bush in the White House and Ms. Matalin with a role in that administration.
This book explains the ins and outs of a political campaign in a highly readable fashion. You really get to see how the Republicans blew this one by leaning too far to the right much to Matalin's moderate horror. And you really have to admire Carville's skills after reading how he got Clinton out of one crisis after another, all while romantically involved with the head of his opponent's campaing.

then you'll enjoy this book. The characters are irresistable. James: ruthless, irreverant & rude. He loves Mary. Mary: gracious, ambitious & respected. She loves James. Then there is President Bush & Govenor Clinton. She loves Bush & what she thinks he can do. He loves Clinton & what he stands for or purports to stand for. The classic conservative Republican vs the classic liberal Democrat. They loathe each others politics. But they are alike in may ways & are attracted to each other. They are both competative, brillant & have picked the same profession. They both love their jobs & are first wedded to them: until after election day. They've taken their act on the road now for years, on television & commercials. They are sort of the Bickersons of the 90's for political junkies. This book is history. It is an account of the 1992 campaign told from the unique perspective of two ultimate insiders to that campaign. Few people can do that, much less collaborate on a coherent book. This book has the virtue of giving both sides in one book by two people who love each other. That makes this book overall, balanced & very readable.