Sneaking Into the Flying Circus: How the Media Turn Our Presidential Campaigns into Freak Shows [Hardcover]

Alexandra Pelosi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2005

Alexandra Pelosi, creator of the Emmy award-winning film Journeys with George and of Diary of a Political Tourist, makes her literary debut with an intimate look at the frenzied and grueling underbelly of presidential campaigning and the puppet role of the media. Pelosi went along on the campaign trail in order to, as she puts it, "document the absurd hazing rituals that our presidential candidates have to go through." With this savvy, well-connected, and fearless guide, it's a rollicking, breakneck journey unlike any other.

Pelosi's one-on-one time with the 2004 presidential candidates affords an up-close perspective on the highs and lows of campaign life: the genuine thrill of seeing America, the unrelenting grind of endless campaign stops, the hope and heartache of poll results. While the candidates try to stick to tightly constructed scripts, Pelosi's nonnetwork angle makes for revealing portraits of the men who wanted to be president.

But even more, Pelosi's approach reveals fundamental flaws in the media's election coverage. A former member of the campaign press corps, she turns her gimlet eye on the media, which are busy enacting their own election-time rituals: "Every election cycle journalists defy the theory of evolution, living sequestered on a bus, with no sleep, few showers, and tons of junk food, going town-to-town listening to the same speech over and over. You're stuck in this dysfunctional relationship between the news organization that has you there to do their bidding and the campaign that is trying to co-opt you."

And herein lies Pelosi's driving point: politicians and journalists don't trust each other, and so, in election coverage and in politics in general, the press is utterly hamstrung. Since the candidates never say anything unscripted and the journalists have to make nice in order to maintain access, modern presidential campaigns have become little more than media events. Politicians and journalists alike are going through the motions, and the voters have no idea who the candidates really are.

But Pelosi says the public are not fools: "Everyone knows that the media do not give them an accurate portrait of a person." No wonder people are apathetic. But whose fault is it? Are the candidates driving people away from the political process, or are the media keeping them out?

Probing, insightful, and lively, Sneaking into the Flying Circus exposes the election process for what it is: a three-ring gala production that comes to town every four years. As a nation and an audience, we're often willing to suspend disbelief -- and we often can't resist when the clowns try to get us in on the act. It is, after all, the greatest show on earth.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (May 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743263049
• ISBN-13: 978-0743263047
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,564,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Way We Do Things is Stoogats, June 26, 2005

By 

Brodigan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sneaking Into the Flying Circus: How the Media Turn Our Presidential Campaigns into Freak Shows (Hardcover)

Paid for by <a href="http://www.brodigan2016.com">John Brodigan for a Better America</a>

"In politics, you have to remember that it isn't what is actually happening - it's the perception that's out there." - George H.W. Bush

Voters don't trust the candidates because they are phonies who are never honest. Candidates can't be 100% honest, because if they slip up the press will be all over them. The press will be all over them because the only thing voters seem to care about is the trivial nonsense they claim turns them off of politics.

It's a never-ending cycle that Alexandria Pelosi tried to get to the bottom to in her book Sneaking into the Flying Circus - How the Media Turn our Presidential Campaigns into Freak Shows. Honestly, she didn't really get to the bottom of anything, other than the fact that the process is all stoogats. The journey on the other hand, was a very entertaining and informative one to read.

One thing I found really interesting was I never realized how much of a "deck of cards" Howard Dean's campaign was. This book made it sound like most of his success was a media creation, because none of the other candidates were giving them anything exciting to write about. They saw crazy ol' Howard and his crazy ol' supporters, and thought, "we can sell this."

And I admit it, I fell for the hype. I admired the way he was running a "different" campaign and that he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. What I didn't realize at the time was that most of his minions were the same strain of Internet dork that I hated dealing with when I was editing the wrestling magazine. Gov. Dean turned out to be just another wack job claiming his "being a Washington outsider" qualified him for the Presidency. In the immortal words of one Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon."

They also, apparently, created Sen. Kerry's resurgence once they were bored of Crazy Howard. He was barely breathing until right before the Iowa Caucus, when one paper decided to write and article calling Kerry "The Comeback Kid." Then everyone decided to do the same, because they didn't want to miss out if he actually happened to win. Once the papers started calling Kerry the front-runner, the voters figured that he must be the front-runner so they all voted for him in Iowa. Then New Hampshire figured, "eh, I guess since everyone else is doing it." All this, just because one paper decides to write one article, and the rest of the media are a bunch of copycats. As far has his campaign went, you could almost hear the author asking herself, "Is this really the best we can come up with?"

Back to the campaign coverage and the most telling sign that the way we do things is dumb? There's a chapter focusing on an argument Ms. Pelosi had with her little niece and nephew about why she wasn't allowed in the John Kerry fundraiser. This was easily my favourite part of the book and worth the cost of admission alone. I won't spoil it here, other than to say the argument ended when the author ran out of answers and they all decided to look for a cookie.

Other highlights in the book include "The Top 10 Things You're Not Allowed to Say on a Presidential Campaign," "Top The Lessons Learned," a chapter on the protesters in NYC, and a list of off the record comments from the press corps.

The candidates are already starting to identify themselves and the real free for all starts right after the midterm elections in 2006. Will 2008 be a remake of 2004, where the actors are different but the story remains the same? Like I mentioned before, the book didn't offer a solution. It did however analyze the problem. The trick now is to do something aboot it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amusing, Intelligent and Honest, June 1, 2005

By 

A Central Illinoisian in Chicago (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sneaking Into the Flying Circus: How the Media Turn Our Presidential Campaigns into Freak Shows (Hardcover)

Alexandra Pelosi, best known as the filmmaker behind "Journeys with George", has written a very entertaining and absorbing account of her time on the Democratic Primary trail. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in the media, politics and the intersection between the two.

A book like this certainly has the potential to be heavy trudge - "a book that's good for you" - but Pelosi manages to write about important things without falling into the trap of self-importance.

I found Pelosi's writing crisp, and her wit and eye for detail as sharp as in her work on video. This time around though, there's been an obvious seasoning in her perspective - she's literally seen it all before. Her ability to compare her experiences with Bush in 2000 vs. the Democrats in 2004 makes her a great "traveling companion", and guide to the ways of the campaign trail.

When the next Presidential primaries roll around, I'll be sure to read this one again.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About The Mainstream Media's Coverage Of Campaigns, May 14, 2005

By 

G. Reid (Roseland, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sneaking Into the Flying Circus: How the Media Turn Our Presidential Campaigns into Freak Shows (Hardcover)

This book is about how presidential campaigns are covered from the perspective of one reporter sitting on the bus. This is an inside the bus look at the campaigns. The book, I believe, achieves it purpose of exposing what goes on in presidential campaigns. It is not a pretty picture. In fact, it is a very ugly picture of sound bites, scripting, fatigue, painted on smiles and even boredom. Most Americans have not been to a presidential campaign rally and probably would find them very distasteful. The way a candidate wins the race is to say very little and to say the same thing day after day with a smile painted on his/her face. A real candidate such as Howard Dean who speaks more than just a script will lose. Our democratic system is not bringing us the best people to be our president because the truth is too elusive and too easily distorted.