One-Car Caravan: On the Road with the 2004 Democrats Before America Tunes In [Hardcover]

Walter Shapiro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2003

An offbeat, irreverent look at the 2004 presidential race, in its not-ready-for-prime-time preliminaries. By the time most Americans see the presidential candidates on the campaign trail, they are practiced performers surrounded by a platoon of staffers and a brigade of reporters. But on their initial forays into Iowa and New Hampshire in 2002 and early 2003, their entourages were decidedly unpresidential -just an aide or two, perhaps a local reporter, and the candidate himself. Their motorcades were literally one-car caravans; their campaign stops, small gatherings in living rooms. The national media only intermittently follow the candidates as they struggle to define themselves, work out the kinks in their message and refine their personas. But Walter Shapiro did. One-Car Caravan is Shapiro's revealing account of the humble roots of the current presidential campaign, and he provides a telling picture of the 2004 Democratic contenders in their metaphorical boxers and briefs. He shows us John Kerry, Dick Gephardt, Joe Lieberman, John Edwards, Howard Dean, and the others with their hair down, their ties askew, and their foibles bared. It's not pretty to watch a candidate who dreams of flying on Air Force One bump his head on a luggage bin on a small commuter jet, but it can be pretty funny.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Experience has taught Shapiro, a veteran journalist and USA Today political columnist, that once the media managers and campaign consultants take hold of the 2004 Democratic presidential primary contest, there will be no way for anyone to get a meaningful sense of who the candidates are and what makes them run. Experience has also persuaded Shapiro that a fix on a candidate's character is more important than set-piece proposals on health care and foreign policy. Thus he takes a pre-emptive strike at the aspiring candidates. In 2002, before the leading Democratic presidential hopefuls are captives of the political process, when traveling with the candidate means sitting with the candidate as he crisscrosses New Hampshire rather than taking a seat in the press plane, Shapiro sets out to take their measure. He isn't interested in the predictable answers candidates offer to the question, Why me for president? He is going after deeper insights, and his active mind looks for clues everywhere: in private conversations with the candidates, in whom they hire to run their campaigns and in how they make crucial decisions, small and large, about their futures. Readers will be pleased with the result-Shapiro succeeds in offering a commentary that is mature, witty, entertaining and marked by political and emotional intelligence. And his final judgment of the candidates he followed (Edwards, Lieberman, Kerry, Graham, Dean and Gephardt)-that at least there is not a "charlatan or a chiseler among them"-might provide comfort through the inevitable mind-numbing moments of the coming primary season.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Shapiro, political columnist for USA Today, takes a very early look at some of the 2004 presidential bids of Democratic candidates, when their campaigns are essentially one-car caravans--with Shapiro along for the ride. With no jostling competition from media and less attention from the public, Shapiro is able to capture candidates at a time of "unscripted" lines. Howard Dean, John Kerry, Richard Gephardt, Joseph Lieberman, John Edwards, Robert Graham, and Al Sharpton come under scrutiny in what Shapiro concedes is not a thorough look at the candidates. But what this collection lacks in thoroughness, it makes up in candor. Shapiro details how the candidates hone their messages, how they interact with each other, and the tension and jockeying for position. He depicts the dogged determination of Graham, how Gephardt reenlisted the help of his former speechwriter, now a co-producer of The West Wing, and a Sharpton less inclined to bow out and support a nominee than is widely expected. Readers will enjoy this revealing look at candidates before they sharpen their images. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; 1st edition (November 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586481878
• ISBN-13: 978-1586481872
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,268,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is witty, informative and terrific, November 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: One-Car Caravan: On the Road with the 2004 Democrats Before America Tunes In (Hardcover)

What wonderful insight into the Presidential candidates. Walter Shapiro has given me such a clear understanding of the candidates, their thoughts, their quirks and their essence. A must read for any thoughtful person.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Process of Candidacy..., November 10, 2003

By 

Carl Malmstrom (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: One-Car Caravan: On the Road with the 2004 Democrats Before America Tunes In (Hardcover)

I didn't finish Walter Shapiro's "One-Car Caravan" feeling that my vote in the 2004 Democratic Primary would go to a different candidate, but I did finish it feeling I had a better grasp of who each of the 'major' candidates were as people - and maybe feeling a little more comfortable in the thought of what would happen if any of the candidates that make me nervous get the nod.

Shapiro's book covers the five 'major' candidates of the 2004 Democratic Primary Election: Dean, Edwards, Gephardt, Lieberman and Kerry. To a lesser extent it also tackles Bob Graham (who entered the race late and has since dropped out) and Al Sharpton, who gets his own chapter in Shapiro's examination of "vanity candidates" - candidates like Sharpton, Moseley-Braun and Kucinich who enter the race with apparently little hope for winning. Absent from the book is Wesley Clark, who did not enter the race until the book was nearly published.

Shapiro's book is based less on policy positions and public facades (although each get their due in the book) than on the candidates as people, and on the whole, each comes off well. Shapiro's biases in the book are reasonably up-front: he identifies himself as a Democrat and he states his personal position as being closest to Howard Dean, and for the purposes of this book it works well. Clearly stating his own stance allows him to deal relatively even-handedly with each of the candidates in turn, although its hard to shake the feeling that maybe he's a little harder on Howard Dean as a result initial Dean-leanings.

On the whole, it's not a deep, life-changing read, nor will it necessarily cause you to rethink your views on the 2004 Democratic candidates, but it is definitely worth reading. Shapiro is careful in the time he gives each candidate, and at the end of the book you come away feeling like you know the candidates more intimately than you could ever from watching ad spots and debates. It's a worthy goal for any political book, and Shapiro writes it well enough to keep you engaged through all 215 rather-quick pages. If the 2004 Democratic hopefuls or the American political process interest you at all, I recommend giving it a shot.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Breezy style + personality touches makes this a winner, November 12, 2004

By 

Scott R (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One-Car Caravan: On the Road with the 2004 Democrats Before America Tunes In (Hardcover)

My goal was to finish this before the 2004 elections, and I made it by a few days once I finally found a copy. I've always liked Walter Shapiro's writing style and honest tone, and One-Car Caravan didn't disappoint.

I enjoyed this book mostly because I found each chapter bring me a bit closer to the candidates - even after watching Kerry & Edwards for months afterwards, I still felt like I learned something. The Leiberman content was especially interesting. I was disappointed to not learn a bit more about Dennis Kucinich, even if I'm not a card-carrying member of his fan club.

A little repetitive - a lot of anecdotes made the same point (although each one about the New Hampshire primary process painted a great picture) - but still a great read, even after the elections are over.