Customer Reviews

The Sixth Year Itch: The Rise and Fall of the George W. Bush Presidency

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I'm using the "Sixth Year Itch" with an AP high school government class because it serves as a marker for the sea-change away from the conservative coalition tha G.W. Bush held together for five years. The book contains an interesting variety of writers, and as usual Sabato prefers insight over ideology.

Overall, this is a well-written and informative book that is interesting
to read. However, I noticed at least three mistakes in the book. On page
121, the map of the United States has two mistakes on it. Colorado and
Kansas should be colored on this map as they each had a Democratic gain of
one House seat in the 2006 election. On page 131 there is this sentence:
"Following the 2006 House elections, Democrats now hold edges in 27 states' delegations, Republicans hold edges in 21, and two states' delegations are tied." The first and last part of this sentence is incorrect. The correct statement would be: "Following the 2006 House elections, Democrats now hold edges in 26 states' delegations, Republicans
hold edges in 21 and three states' delegations are tied." The three state
delegations that are tied are Arizona, Kansas, and Mississippi. On page 357, it says that Governor Wilson of California handily defeated Democratic incumbent Kathleen Brown in the 1994 election. The last part
of this sentence is incorrect. Kathleen Brown was NOT the incumbent governor in that election, Governor Wilson was. Kathleen Brown was the
incumbent state treasurer. This book, like so many other political books
that I have purchased, appears to have not had an accurate proofreading
before it was published to check the facts to make sure that everything
is accurate.