A savage dispatch from the 1996 campaign by an author whose last book was praised by the "Washington Times" as "among the best campaign writing ever and unquestionably the funniest since H.L. Mencken's". From the campaign finance scandals to why Clinton insisted his debates be 90 minutes long (that meant they went past Dole's usual 10:00 p.m. bedtime) to the contenders for the next election, "Show Time" delivers an entertaining read Print ads .
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Modern political campaigns--and seemingly politics in general--have devolved into a sort of circus, with many sideshow acts vying for the position of ringleader. No election exemplifies this as clearly as the race for the "big top": the White House. Syndicated columnist Roger Simon takes readers behind the scenes of what is surely the greatest political show on earth, exploring the 1996 presidential campaign between the incumbent, Bill Clinton, and the Republican candidate Bob Dole, and touching on other serious primary contenders such as Pat Buchanan, Lamar Alexander, and Steve Forbes. In the vein of such campaign classics as Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 and the more recent Trail Fever by Michael Lewis, Show Time reveals the true nature of those who help--or fail to help--their guy rule the polls. From White House spokesman Mike McCurry to talk-show host Larry King to political rule-breaker Ross Perot, Simon reintroduces readers to already familiar politicos, providing often humorous, sometimes tragicomic glimpses of the charismatic (and not-so-charismatic) people who helped make a potentially forgettable political match-up a fascinating, hilarious study of the production that American presidential campaigns have become.
After the cursory but delightful examination of the primary elections, Simon delves into the race between the chosen ones: Clinton and Dole. He paints vivid pictures of these very different men, all the while showing how their personalities helped--or inhibited--their chances of success. Simon claims that "the candidate who refuses to entertain is doomed to defeat." In this case, this candidate was Dole. Simon maintains that Dole's campaign suffered greatly for its lack of focus, an assertion supported by many of the candidate's own comments: when asked by a reporter what he considers the most important thing voters should know about him, Dole replied, "Beats me." In turn, Clinton's flexible, eager-to-please-and-entertain staffers helped propel this immensely likeable candidate back to his temporary home on Pennsylvania Avenue for a final term, and Simon documents their almost religious fervor and uproariously funny foibles with an equally insightful eye. Although many of us may remember the 1996 presidential election with disinterest or apathy, Show Time reminds us why living in a democracy is never boring.
From Library Journal
Journalist Simon, the author of Road Show (LJ 9/1/90), a similarly irreverent book on the 1988 presidential contest, here concentrates on the day-to-day campaign strategies and media presence in the 1996 campaign. Filled with rich, fascinating descriptions and dialog, it highlights the contrasting personal styles of candidates Clinton and Dole. Their full characters are revealed?the flaws and excesses as well as the strengths. Simon considers Clinton a "master of the visual image," and he dismisses Ross Perot as a "loony" (though an entire chapter is devoted to his campaign). The central role of the media on the election is most effectively depicted in a chapter on Larry King's activities during the Iowa caucuses. President Clinton's campaign tactics even extended to getting the debates to run past Bob Dole's 10:00 p.m. bedtime. This is possibly the most entertaining campaign book since Hunter S. Thompson's classic Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (LJ 6/1/73). Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.?Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Roger Simon is the Chief Political Columnist of The Politico, an award-winning journalist and a New York Times best-selling author.
He has won more than three dozen first-place awards and is the only person to win twice the American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award for Commentary. He has also been a runner-up for the award.
Also, he has won the National Headliner Award three times including 2005 for his coverage of the 2004 presidential election. He won a National Headliner Award in 2008 for his coverage of the presidential campaign and in 2009 was a finalist for the National Journalism Award for commentary.
His work has been included in the "Best Newspaper Writing in America" in three different years.
In reviewing a collection of his work titled "Simon Says: The Best of Roger Simon" (Contemporary Books), Martha Jablow of The New York Times compared him to H.L. Mencken and Russell Baker. The book, published in both hardcover and paperback, has been translated into Japanese.
His first book on presidential politics titled "Road Show" was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and received rave reviews from the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsweek and Time.
His book on the Clinton administration and national politics titled "Show Time" was published by Times Books/Random House and hit the New York Times best-seller list on March 29, 1998.
His book on the 2000 presidential race, "Divided We Stand," was published by Crown Publishers/Random House in 2002. The Boston Globe said, "Simon is known for
his droll humor and bracingly pithy distillations of complex issues."
Simon is now working on a history of presidential campaigning from FDR to Barack Obama to be published by Henry Holt and Company in 2011.
The Associated Press has called Simon's work "sensitive, relevant and written with understated elegance."
Simon's column is distributed by Creators Syndicate to newspapers throughout the world.
Simon has been on numerous television and radio programs including "Meet the Press," "Face the Nation," the "Today" show, "Good Morning America," "Hardball with Chris Matthews," the "Charlie Rose Show," "Reliable Sources," and "Good Morning America." Simon was also a regular weekly panelist on CNN's "Lou Dobbs."
Based in Washington, D.C., Simon contributes articles to national magazines ranging from The New Republic to the New York Times Book Review and speaks nationally. His work has also appeared in Slate, The Washington Post and the Washington Monthly.
Simon was a staff columnist at The Baltimore Sun from 1984 to 1995 and first gained renown as an investigative reporter and columnist during his 12 years at the Chicago Sun-Times.
In 1998, he became the White House Correspondent of the Chicago Tribune and covered the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
In 1999, he joined U.S. News & World Report as its Chief Political Correspondent and then Political Editor.
Simon is a three-time winner of the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award, a three-time winner of the Peter Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club, an eight-time recipient of the Page One Award from the Chicago Newspaper Guild and also was the first non-black journalist to win a national writing award from the National Association of Black Journalists.
Simon has also won five United Press International Awards and four Associated Press Awards. He has won three Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild Awards, a
Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Press Association Award and is a three-time winner of the Society of Professional Journalists, Maryland Professional Chapter Award.
He is a two-time winner of the Washington Monthly Journalism Award for political reporting.
When he won second place in the Ernie Pyle Memorial Award competition, the judges cited his "extraordinary ability to capture the story in terms of ordinary people."
In 1995, Simon won first-place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Chesapeake Associated Press.
In 2005 he won the National Headliner Award for magazine writing for his coverage of the 2004 presidential election. In 2004 he won the Washington Headliner Award for magazine writing.
He joined Bloomberg News in January 2006 as its first Chief Political Correspondent.
Simon was born in Chicago, Ill., and has a B.A. degree in English from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He has also worked for the Waukegan (Ill.) News-Sun and the City News Bureau of Chicago.
Simon has been a Poynter Media Fellow at Yale University, a Hoover Media Fellow at Stanford University, and in the spring of 2005 was a Kennedy School of Government Institute of Politics Fellow at Harvard University.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A riot! And revealing, too.,
By harry_mccracken@pcworld.com (Boston, Mass.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Show Time:: The American Political Circus and the Race for the White House (Hardcover)
Roger Simon is the anti-Elizabeth Drew. Show Time is bursting with life, laugh-out-loud funny, and just the right length; it probably makes the 1996 campaign seem more interesting than it really was. (Although Simon doesn't have much to say about candidates other than Dole, Clinton, and Perot -- for the scoop on Morry Taylor and Alan Keyes, you'll need to read Michael Lewis's Trail Fever.) Simon's book on the 1988 campaign is worth tracking down, too; I hope we don't need to wait until 2004 for his next work.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comedy Hour,
By
This review is from: Show Time:: The American Political Circus and the Race for the White House (Hardcover)
A laugh on every page, the author just kept the jokes coming. He missed his true calling, he should write comedy. Who would have thought that a dull political campaign that was almost decided from the start could be this funny? The author takes us through the 1996 presidential campaign with the main focus on the Dole campaign. The author was as brutally honest about the inept Dole campaign as he funny. Looking at the Dole campaign now you really see just how badly they performed from speeches to talking points. The author also included verbatim transcripts of some Dole stump speeches, and what a mess they were. Small children can put together more coherent thoughts. I really started to feel sorry for the guy after awhile. What a contrast the Clinton campaign proved to be, they scripted everything from backgrounds during speeches to person placement on stage during the debates.I think the only complaint I could have is that the book stayed focused on Dole for about 60% of the time leaving the rest for Clinton and the other contenders. This is understandable given that the Dole campaign appeared to be the biggest mess and that is the way reporters handle a campaign by following the same guy around most of the time. I just would have liked the authors quick wit focused on some of the other unique personalities that also ran that year. Overall the book is great for its humor content alone. It also gives the reader an interesting insight to this campaign and campaigns in general. If you are a political junkie then this book will really make you smile.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fresh, informed, irreverent take on politics,
By A Customer
This review is from: Show Time:: The American Political Circus and the Race for the White House (Hardcover)
Thoroughly enjoyed this book by a source I wish the talking head gabfests would include in their panels more often. I couldn't imagine how anyone could make the sad, tedious 1996 presidential campaign interesting, but Mr. Simon did it and then some, with wit, humor, and penetrating insights throughout. A refreshing new take on the standard after-action election history. Highly recommend.
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