Customer Reviews

One-Car Caravan: On The Road With The 2004 Democrats Before America Tunes In

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Walter Shapiro tells us in this book that when his mother placed her copy of Theodore White's "The Making of the President 1960" in his hands, it was a life-changing event. Now, more than four decades later, Shapiro has become White's spiritual heir with this book. White's great innovation was to be the first one on the ground, on the road and in the air with the men who were in pursuit of the presidency. Naturally, he spawned generations of imitators, who had the ability to jump on the campaign bus early but lacked White's gifts for insight and analysis.

In "One Car Caravan," we find Shapiro on the campaign trail with the leading Democratic contenders from mid-2002 to mid-2003, a time when they were only attracting sporadic coverage in the national media, and more importantly, a time when the handlers and professionals had not completely gained the upper hands in their campaigns. As a result, we see John Kerry, Joseph Lieberman, Howard Dean, Dick Gephart and John Edwards in their homes, in their offices, in the living rooms of New Hampshire Democrats, appearing as supplicants before possible donors--in short, at a time when their candidacies still have some spontaneity left in them. We gain the benefit of Shapiro's insights honed through many decades of political reporting, and it's leavened by flashes of his gift for humor as well. (Once Al Gore removed himself from the race, clearing the way for the proudly Jewish Lieberman's candidacy, Shapiro observed that "The yarmulke was in the ring.")

Supporters of Carol Mosley Braun, Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich probably won't find much to like about this book, as Shapiro dismisses them as vanity-driven candidates "...who clutter up a presidential race that they have no chance of winning." But after 40 years on the trail, Shapiro is calling them like he sees them. He offers what he admits is a very personal view of these potential presidents. But it seems to be based on an honest evaluation, based on his own values--most important among them, a belief in the value of this process, as strange, expensive, lengthy and cluttered as it might seem at times.

Average voters never get to see the personal side of presidential candidates. All we see is the polished public image crafted by their handlers and the short sound-bites on the evening news. If any of us are really lucky we might actually hear a candidate speak in person, but even that is a canned speech that has been recited by the candidate over and over. Sometimes a campaign insider or political reporter will offer us a look at the real person blemishes and all, but it is usually in a book published after the election.

Walter Shapiro has turned the tables a bit and given us a look behind the mask before the election. Shapiro is a long time political reporter and is currently with USA Today. His knowledge of the subject comes through in every page of this book as he introduces the reader to the major contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. Most political junkies don't even begin to focus on the race at its beginnings, but Shapiro made it a point to get to know the candidates while they were still formulating their campaigns. He traveled with Howard Dean when there were no other reporters around and in fact was with Dean on at least on trip to New Hampshire in a car with only two other people. One of which was the Vermont State Trooper assigned to drive then Governor Dean around.

Shapiro spent a lot of time like this with all of the major candidates and got to see a side of them that is seldom seen. Normally only the candidate's closest advisors and family get to see this side of the candidates. In this book we see Joe Lieberman's reaction to Al Gore's decision not to run and Howard Dean the penny pincher. We see John Edwards agonizing over his decision to run and Bob Graham with his odd habit of writing everything he does down in a little notebook. We also get a look at the emotional trauma faced by both John Kerry and Richard Gephardt as they deal not only with the stress of the campaign but also with the illness and ultimate death of their respective mothers.

Yes, these men are real people just like the rest of us and while running for President of the United States they have to deal with some of the same problems we all deal with. Shapiro gives us a chance to see how they handle these dual roles. This is a tough life these men have chosen and this book gives the reader some insight into why they decided to take on this challenge. Toward the end Shapiro includes a hilarious little section about what might be going on in early 2005. He includes things like President Edwards press secretary getting runs in her pantyhose caused by stray Legos and President Kerry being upset because he can't ride his Harley anywhere but Camp David.

This book is well written and interesting along with informative. I wish I had known about this book before the primary season although I doubt that it would have altered my choice. The candidates are not torn to pieces but are dealt with sympathetically. That is not to say however that their faults don't come through as do the faults of the system we use to select our leader. This is a very good book and since it contains a good deal of information about John Kerry it won't be out of date until November, and maybe eight years beyond that.

Shapiro does an excellent job covering a topic that is complex and straught with emotion, but doing so in a way that is neither biased or hard to read. It's been mentioned already that he is a stand-up comedian, and that really shows in his writing. It's engaging and insightful. It gives depth into character traits of the Democratic candidates. And although I'm not a fan of any of them, it made me feel like I could relate to them and understand where they were coming from and what they were struggling with.

Highly recommended.

There's nothing too earth-shattering in here: Edwards is likable; Kerry aloof and 'a sad sack' (Shapiro's words, not mine); Sharpton volatile (and Shapiro rightly calling him to task on Tawana Brawley); Gephardt a decent man (but perhaps in the wrong era); Mosley Braun and Kucinich not reviewed because of their lack of credibility as candidates, etc.

What *is* fresh and different about 'One-Car Caravan' is that Shapiro 'gets' the candidates before the public as a whole catches on - he sees Edwards' ability to connect with small groups and surmises he will surprise; he predicts Dean will catch fire. These are the eyes and ears of a seasoned campaign reporter.

I especially liked the humor Shapiro shows - an extended riff towards the end of the book envisions each of the candidates as President and recounts their first days in autobiographical style - we get Kerry dictating a self-important passage to himself via a small tape recorder, a faux Time magazine article that makes the Edwards White House out as Camelot, Part II, with John-John and Caroline stand-ins Jack and Emma Claire Edwards leaving half-eaten cookies in the Oval Office. Best of all, we get a hilariously spot-on passage from Senator Bob Graham's Presidential Diary. Every political wonk and wonkette knows about Graham's prosiac, prolific diaries, so we get entries like:

6:45 - Shower, shave, dress. Finish Colgate. Gray suit

7:30 - CIA-FBI terrorism briefing. Same old. Counted "Mr. President's." 47! 4 in one sentence.

That's right out of Al Franken "Why Not Me?" terrritory. Very, very well done. A treat for any budding political operative.

This is a brilliant look at what has been called the "Invisible Primary" , the period before the voters step into the picture. Shapiro is a stand-up comic in his spare time and in this book, he does not disappoint. He gives the reader a birds eye view of how a Presidential campaign begins and how it goes through the first phase of the nomination process.

This book is less about the candidates and more about the process of running for President of the United States of America. While it does give you an inside look at the motivations of each canddiate, more importantly it tells you how a person, anyone of us can for President. This book reads like an interesting novel in which the characters are built up like human beings and not abstract figures. One often forgets that these men, and one woman, are running for President!

Shapiro tackles the issues, the money, the message and all the other technical aspects of running a campaign. He does what few others in his art have done, he takes it a step further by analyzing the process and evaluating what kind of a job it does in selecting the man or woman who is most fit to represent the party and the country. The critique is one which is alarming but reassuring, the candidate is not made as a result of political handlers, consultants, money, or even message. The man or woman most fit is the one who best connects with the American people and the one who sees their problems as his or her own.

A reassuring look in an otherwise cynical world.

'One-car caravan' does provide some insight into the characters and to a lesser extent the politics of the candidates, although I think the statement on the books back cover that "if you are a Democrat, it is your responsibility as a voter to read this book" is overstated. As proof that more information does not lead to more clarity, I confess I'm less clear now on my preference for president than I was before I started reading this book.

More interesting, at least for me, is the insight into the whole process of what the candidates have to overcome just to run a presidential campaign. Picking staff, raising money, dealing with the press, gaining nominations from the influencial party members, showing up in living rooms in New Hampshire or Iowa. This is a part of democracy that doesn't get covered in civics lessons.

Walter Shapiro writes in a style that is sometimes rambling but always warm and charitable. The narative descibes both the events on the campaign trail and also offers many deep insights into American democracy. If you can read this book and not envy the people of New Hampshire and Iowa for their disproportionately elevated role in choosing the Presidential candidates, then Mr Grinch, your heart is surely two sizes too small.

'One-car caravan' is an enjoyable book that leaves me with a better understanding of the repetitive, quirky, demanding nature of an American presidential campaign.

This really should be two and half, but the rating system here is what it is, and to be fair, this is not a terrible book. The most I can say about this book is probably that it had lots of potential. There are genuinely entertaining and informative moments; about once every twenty pages or so, some detail of a candidate's personality or some arcane strategy move really does hit the spot. But overall there are far too many problems with this book. For one, it's hopelessly disjointed. I understand that Shapiro was trying for a free-flowing read, but the timeline is so jumbled that anecdotes get mixed and all sense of chronology is lost. A stricter timeline or a candidate-by-candidate structure would have helped greatly. And Shapiro seems confused as to the point of this book: is it Making of the President 2004? Is it a series of character sketches? Is it basically a reporter's campaign travelouge? There are elements of all three, but it never goes far enough into any of the options to be satisfying. The backroom deals and early-campaign plotting just aren't there in detail, and the personality aspect, though interesting and covered at far greater length, never totally shines through.

The first thing I thought after putting down the book is that I never felt as though Shapiro had given me a truly greater grasp of the overall campaign or insight into any of the candidates. Brief and entertaining flashes, yes; real understanding and value, no. Especially with the suspense gone and the election long decided, this was basically an irrelevant read. Casual politicos may enjoy the book, but I'm holding out hope for a better chronicle of the race.