Customer Reviews

The Almanac of American Politics, 2008

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those that follow national politics in much the same way that fans follow football or baseball, this book is the absolute #1 must-have. I know that many political fans have eagerly awaited the release of this newest volume -- it was released a couple months behind schedule -- and I was delighted to see when it came on sale recently.

For those unfamilar with the Almanac, the book is released every two years and it is basically an encyclopedia of all national politics. Broken up mainly by state, it gives detailed sketches of all of the governors, U.S. senators, and U.S. representatives, including how they've done in their previous elections, their backgrounds, how they've voted on certain key votes, and how liberal or conservative the congressional districts are. The Almanac also provides breakdown of the states themselves: how they've voted in previous presidential elections, how the voter registration numbers look, and other information. I've noticed that this year the authors have added some very interesting sections on which states will be awarded additional seats by the next census, and which ones will lose seats. This information will be obviously be pretty key after 2010. Finally, this volume gives some good coverage of the impending 2008 presidential race.

The price tag is probably the biggest negative, but it is still well worth it. Plus, while the book will cost upwards of $75 if you go to a bookstore, you can get it on Amazon for under fifty bucks. A good deal, if you ask me. The Almanac is a great book for a political junkie to read over-and-over-and-over again, and it is also a superb resource tool for people interested in just learning about the government and our elected officials. It's always a fun read, even if many of the Member profiles are recycled volume-to-volume.

Five stars.

Here it is again - the political junkie's biennial facts fix. Since the 1970s, all the demographic information, statistics, maps and historical background you could expect in a single volume have been available in this one. That hasn't changed with the latest model, and there's still no rival when it comes to having all the facts in one place.

What has changed? As longtime readers know, Michael Barone's conservative bias has been palpable in a number of past volumes (probably peaking along with Republican dominance of Congress in the mid-90s). It has decreased in recent issues, but it's hard for us liberal readers to avoid seeking - and usually finding - examples of Republican rhetoric thinly disguised as fact. I'm pleased to report that this edition is better than most other recent ones in that regard. One can't help but suspect that the 2006 elections made Barone want to chortle about the bleak 2008 prospects for all the new Democratic members - but for the most part, the analysis of past and future elections is straightforward and facts-based, for Democratic and Republican members alike.

Certainly, there are still points where you can at least see the bias wanting to come out. For example, the entry for Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) manages to tell the truth about why Casey's father was not allowed to address the 1992 Democratic National Convention - sort of. You can tell Barone wants to repeat the standard Republican lie about it being entirely due to the abortion issue, but instead he argues only that the decision was "certainly related to his stance on abortion but also brought on by his skepticism about Bill Clinton." Close enough, but then, the incident is mentioned again in discussing Sen. Chuck Schumer's DSCC chairmanship in terms that probably do cross the line into rhetoric-land. The more blatantly snide comments (chiding liberal voters for not supporting right-wing black or female candidates, for example) are, however, pleasantly absent this time around.

The analysis is sometimes a bit dry as a result of the relative evenhandedness, but I don't suppose that's really something we should complain about. Political junkies on the left and right alike will probably enjoy flipping through this copy.

An hour with TAAP is more informative than a year of watching CNN. If you want the truth about the people who make decisions in your behalf, read The Almanac of American Politics. The book is a fair, comprehensive account of politicians without the manipulation of the networks and their biased reporters. Barone and Cohen take the responsibility of informing their readers of what goes on in Washington; they have no interest in selling cars and beer; but more importantly, they have no interest in who gets elected. If you want to find out the truth, read TAAP, if you want others to do your thinking for you, watch network TV.

Mr. Barone and his collaborators continue to produce the benchmark political work of our time, and we get it updated every two years. What a treat to be able to go to this piece of work and get the unadorned skinny about an individual and the region that he represents.

In this huge politcal year the Almanac of American Politics belongs on the bookshelves of anyone that has at least a passing interest in politics.
Mr. Barone can be a little too conservative for my tastes, but this years edition seems to be a little more balanced. Perhaps he's been humbled by recent events and decisions by the Current Occupant of the White House.

The most complete collection of information available on American politics. The level of detail is unmatched. The Sunday morning pundits would be lost without it.

Since most people don't keep up to date on every state and congressional district, a book that purports to explain the politics to them must be above suspicion of bias. This book is nowhere near.

Michael Barone has been getting more and more open about his bias. After 2004, when the GOP reached their high-water mark, he really let the mask slip. On his blog, he referred to Democrats as a 5-letter word for a woman who has sex for money. That sort of comment if said by a Democrat would get Barone to label them "ultrapartisan." But nonetheless, here he is trying to pass himself off as nonpartisan.

The book is chock full of nasty asides or catty comments. He calls Harry Reid one of the most partisan Senate leaders ever, but sees nothing wrong with Cheney calling Leahy you-know-what. Everything Democrats do is open to suspicion about their motives; Republicans, according to Barone, are well-intentioned citizen-legislators.

What's funny is if you read the book over several editions, how frequently he is proven wrong. In 2005's edition, he was virtually writing the Democrats' obituary. In this new 2007 edition, he mumbles something about "open field politics" to cover up his horrible prediction average. Several congressmen he assured us in 2005 were "here to stay" are gone in 2007, because they lost re-election, which was obvious to many but not to Barone.

Michael Barone is a bitter partisan who regularly insults half the country (the half living on the coasts) in his writings; his book here is riddled with his biases. It is completely untrustworthy. Buy CQ's Politics in America if you want objectivity.