The Almanac of American Politics 2010 [Hardcover]

Michael Barone (Author), Richard E. Cohen (Author), Jackie Koszczuk (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 089234119X | ISBN-13: 978-0892341191 | Publication Date: September 14, 2009

The results of the 2008 presidential election were extraordinary, marking the beginning of a new period in American political history. Democrat Barack Obama became the first African American president in the United States, claiming a decisive over Republican John McCain. His fellow Democrats, meanwhile, established a robust majority in the Senate, winning seats in New Hampshire, New Jersey, and North Carolina, among others. Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Virginia—states carried by Republicans in previous elections—“went blue” for the first time in decades. Across the political spectrum, Americans turned out to vote in droves.

 

No matter how you voted in the 2008 presidential election, it was unmistakably exciting. Its implications for both parties, however, remain unknown. From Internet fundraising to foreign policy, ballot fraud to ethics scandals, the political scene for Republics and Democrats is changing quickly. And in this time of uncertainty, there’s one book both parties turn to: The Almanac of American Politics. The 2010 Almanac remains the gold standard of accessible political information, relied upon by everyone involved, invested, or interested in American politics.

 

As in previous editions, the 2010 Almanac includes profiles of every member of Congress and every governor; as well as in-depth and completely up-to-date narrative profiles of all 50 states and 435 House districts, covering everything from economics to history to, of course, politics. It also contains Michael Barone’s sharp-eyed analysis of the 2008 presidential elections, congressional elections, and redistricting battles. New to this edition is a statistical breakdown of the 2008 presidential vote by state and congressional district, plus coverage of all recent special elections.

 

Full of maps, census data, and information on topics ranging from campaign expenditures to voting records to interest group ratings, the 2010 Almanac of American Politics presents everything you need to know about American politics in snappy prose and framed by cogent analysis.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Reviewing this work is a labor of love. . . . For any level of political study, this book is invaluable. . . . This series is perhaps among the best works on politics ever published. It is not hard to read and is actually ''fun'' for those folks ineterested in these subjects. . . . A must book for any library as well as a must for any free citizen wishing to understand his government."

(American Reference Books Annual )

About the Author

Michael Barone is a senior writer at U.S. News and World Report and a Fox News Channel contributor. His most recent book is Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America’s Founding Fathers.

 

Richard E. Cohen has decades of experience covering Capitol Hill as National Journal’s congressional correspondent. The author of a biography of former Representative Dan Rostenkowski, in 1990 he won the prestigious Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for distinguished reporting on Congress.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1726 pages
• Publisher: National Journal Group (September 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089234119X
• ISBN-13: 978-0892341191
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,272,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The BIBLE of American politics! Bar None!, September 3, 2009

By 

Jim Pankovits (Tucson, Arizona) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Almanac of American Politics 2010 (Paperback)

This is it! This almanac continues the tradition of being THE definitive source when it comes to American politics. The sheer amount of history, statistics, and detail poured into this book is staggering. Since it first came out in 1970 this is the book that all true politicos look forward to reading when it comes out. I've loved this book for years. The only people that may find fault with it are staunch liberals that can not put their bias aside to give credit where it is due. Sure, Barone is a conservative columnist, but he and Richard Cohen, a liberal columnist, have once again put out an almanac that is about as factual and unbiased as you can find. I highly recommend it. The price may be a bit high, but that is because this book is huge and the effort to produce it is costly. Also, there is simply not enough demand by the general public for such a work and thus the cost is higher.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable Political Data, October 24, 2009

By 

Dr. Roy R. Nasstrom (Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Almanac of American Politics 2010 (Paperback)

Since 1972, when Michael Barone, Grant Ujifusa, and Douglas Matthews first published the Almanac, these biennial books have constituted a dynamic resource for anyone interested in the American political scene. The current volume, like its predecessors, is enjoyable simply to page through. It is of enormous value, however, to anyone who wants to evaluate or expand on political information gained from other sources, whether journalistic, scholarly, or personal.

Does the book have any faults? Yes. Data on backgrounds of legislators sometimes contained errors. In at least a couple of cases the authors supplied conflicting information in different segments of biographical data. Moreover, the definition of military service can be perplexing, omitting interpretation of reserve service (active or inactive?) and in one case including even ROTC service in college. (I mention military service here only because it does constitute one of the variables used in the authors' analysis of voting and demographic characteristics.) But problems are minor. The charge of Republican political bias has no validity. Michael Barone is a conservative but he and his co-author, Richard E. Cohen, longtime correspondent for the highly respected, nonpartisan National Journal, have scrupulously avoided unfair selection of information or unfair judgments. They provided a vast array of verifiable empirical data, and in their narrative an individual's political party affiliation played no part in the selection of examples of praiseworthy or embarrassing behavior.

It has become a cliché to describe a book as indispensable--no human would have time to read all books so designated--but for anyone interested in understanding American politics as observer, student, or participant, this book comes closest to deserving the label.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best resource for American political junkies, October 9, 2009

By 

Florida Science Guy "flspy" (Boca Raton, FL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Almanac of American Politics 2010 (Paperback)

I have been reading this book for years- it is absolutely amazing. The negative review here about bias is off-base. This is a resource for people who READ. If you you are content with pre-digeted pablum from the pundits, watch Fox, The Daily Show, or MSNBC. Want to learn in-depth about the real power brokers in America? Get this book. If the price is too steep, borrow it at the reference section of your library.