Jews for Buchanan: Did You Hear the One About the Theft of the American Presidency? [Paperback]

John Nichols (Author), David Deschamps (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

A stinging, laugh-inducing look at how George W. Bush stole the 2000 presidential election, in words and pictures. A recent ABC News poll revealed that 35 percent of Americans— or close to one hundred million people—believe that President George W. Bush was not legitimately elected. In a wonderfully irreverent grab bag of facts, rumor, idle speculation, and unmitigated rage, Jews for Buchanan revisits the major events and decisions of the 2000 presidential race, and with a jaundiced if twinkling eye, outlines the overwhelming litany of mistakes, conflicts of interest, inappropriate behavior, and political abuse that were on display during this sorry episode in American political history. Drawing on a variety of sources, from the Annenburg Center's comprehensive collection of election-related documents to little-known websites, Jews for Buchanan covers the whole range of issues that don't pass the smell test: the intimidation of black voters; the disproportionate number of older Jewish residents of Florida who recorded votes for Patrick Buchanan; information about Katherine Harris's connections with the Bush campaign; arguments for the recusal of specific Supreme Court justices; communication between Jeb Bush's office and the Bush campaign; and the role of Republican aides in disrupting the recount—all adding up to a powerful case that George W. Bush is merely a pretender. Combining quips and quotes with the best editorial cartoons and commentary from the election, Jews for Buchanan will be the ultimate memento of the 2000 election for millions of Americans.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nichols, an experienced political observer who writes for the Nation, assembles an impressively wide array of little-known information about the 2000 election in Florida: how TV network cutbacks left them short of news resources and vulnerable to spin and bad-faith attacks; how several counties with optical-scan equipment capable of catching mismarked ballots had high error rates because officials disabled the function to save money; how the "butterfly ballot" cost Gore over 8,500 votes, and a rush to judgment overlooked the clear precedent of a court-ordered revote in the 1968 presidential election; how a Reconstruction-era law disenfranchising felons cost Gore roughly 85,000 votes, and how Bush's and Katherine Harris's offices combined to purge the votes of thousands of supposed "ex-felons," including one county election supervisor; how blacks, with 11% of eligible voters, constituted 44% of those "scrubbed" from voter rolls and 54% of rejected ballots; how Republicans quietly challenged and disqualified hundreds of overseas Gore votes; and many other examples. Nichols combines a journalistic, point-by-point style with engaging, conversational, sometimes chilling and sometimes humorous anecdotes: Pat Buchanan, for instance, jokes about how he prayed to God not to let his epitaph read "The Man Who Cost George W. Bush the Presidency," and wholeheartedly agrees that the butterfly ballot helped save him from this particular ignominy. This volume will leave little doubt in the minds of many that Gore was robbed. But Nichols doesn't dryly build a case; he tells compelling stories revolving around the deeper, more troubling notion that the American people and democracy itself were robbed. 34 b&w illus.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The; 1st Printing edition (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565847172
• ISBN-13: 978-1565847170
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,294,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shocking details in a wonderfully conceived book, February 27, 2002

By 

Lanlady (Woodbridge, VA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Jews for Buchanan: Did You Hear the One About the Theft of the American Presidency? (Paperback)

Remember the TV pundits trying so hard to convince us that the Bush presidency really began on 9/11? Don't let them fool you--the details of vote robbing, fraud, abuse of power, and political chicanery that played out in Florida, courtesy of the Bush family and GOP operative Katherine Harris, have been researched and presented in very convincing fashion by John Nichols. Until I read this book I thought I was pretty well up to speed on the Florida election fiasco. I was wrong: Jews for Buchanan not only has much to add about the infamous butterfly ballot (designed by a Texas firm, by the way!) but also goes into depth about such under-reported (or outright censured) aspects as the real extent of African-American voter disenfranchisement. The book is rich in details. For instance, I didn't know that there is a Bush cousin working at Fox who succeeding in manipulating that station's news coverage.

The saga is recounted with an appopriate touch of light humor (much needed, because the information is enough to make you scream and cry), with fascinating sidebars throughout focussing on particular technical or "human interest" aspects. It is extremely well-written.

I promise you will never look at Bush and his clique the same way again. It has stirred me to become more politically active, and to start paying close attention to this Administration and its media lackeys.

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Rocks, November 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Jews for Buchanan: Did You Hear the One About the Theft of the American Presidency? (Paperback)

What took place last autumn in Florida was one of the most extraordinary episodes in U.S. history. In 100 years it will be much discussed and analyzed. Yet our mainstream media coverage -- weighted down by extraordinary political pressures -- have done a dreadful job of shedding light on what actually happened, how it happened, and why; perhaps becuase the media themselves are a significant part of the story.

Along comes John Nichols, one of the top political journalists in the country, with this brilliant evaluation of the events in Florida over those five weeks. Nichols nails down the story, and does so in a remarkably entertaining manner. Folks, for those of you unfamiliar with the territory, this is what journalism looks like.

The present War and the call for everyone to bow down to our "maximum leader" may undercut some of the attention this book would have received otherwise. (For those who think it improper to criticize the president, I urge you to look at how the press treated Linclon during the Civil War. Lincoln, a democratic figure, not the bumbling heir to a dynasty, took it in stride.)But it shouldn't. This book really cuts through the lies and propaganda and gets to the truth of the matter. And it is not as pretty picture, as a commentary on the caliber of our political culture today.

(...)

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Believe in Preserving American Democracy, Read this!, December 5, 2001

By 

William Hare (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jews for Buchanan: Did You Hear the One About the Theft of the American Presidency? (Paperback)

The British philosopher Lord Acton said, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." Numerous patriotic Americans have given their lives throughout history initially in revolution and later in wars to provide us with a democracy and to help preserve it.

Author-journalist John Nichols reveals the theft of democracy by the Bush campaign team and, ultimately, the United States Supreme Court in the 2000 presidential election. Not one for small talk, Nichols, as the current saying goes, "cuts quickly to the chase." He writes about the prevasive influence of George W. Bush's first cousin, John Ellis of Fox News, in making the initial call of Bush as the "winner" of the hotly contested race, along with the masterly spin operation which prompted all other television networks to quickly follow. From that point Bush was the presumptive president-elect and efforts by the Gore team to secure a definitive recount of Florida voters would be dubbed as the efforts of a "sore loser." Much attention is also devoted by Nichols to the successful efforts on the part of Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the candidate's younger brother, and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a George Bush "co-campaign chair" to disqualify African American voters in Florida, resulting in the estimated disqualification of 31% of the state's elegible African Americans on the state's voting roles. The effort did not stop there as roadblocks were erected in heavily African American precincts while, among those who attempted to vote, many ballots were discarded. Also covered in detail by Nichols is the "Butterfly Ballot" controversy in Palm Beach County. He reveals there was indeed judicial precedent for the revote which the petitioners sought.

Another excellent element of Nichols' brilliantly researched effort is his closing reference sources, in which he invites interested citizens to investigate deeper, supplying a treasure trove of sources to facilitate such efforts.