The Hillary Effect: Politics, Sexism and the Destiny of Loss [Paperback]

Taylor Marsh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2011

Spanning nearly two decades of American politics, The Hillary Effect is the provocative and insightful story of the first viable female presidential candidate in history to win a primary and do so in spite of her campaign team’s mistakes. It addresses the galvanizing impact that her loss represented for both women and men, in and out of Washington. And it revolves around media coverage that treated her differently as First Lady, senator and then presidential candidate - not only because she was a woman, but because she was Hillary Clinton. Candidly written by veteran political analyst Taylor Marsh, it is the view from a recovering partisan, someone who the Washington Post called a “die hard Clintonite” in their profile of her in 2008. The Hillary Effect began when Hillary, as First Lady, dared to challenge China’s treatment of women. A countless number of women have and will benefit from her presidential loss, the most famous being Sarah Palin (the Tea Party queen of 2010 and first female on a national Republican presidential ticket), who weaves throughout this story as the anti-Hillary. The Hillary Effect also sees Michele Bachman as a player, as the first Republican female to win a straw poll, primary or caucus. The male leads in this stunning tale are Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama (someone who turned out to be very different from candidate Obama), with David Plouffe and Mark Penn making appearances. The story includes a host of media personalities and their outlets, but also new media and progressive voices, and famous names like Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Sally Quinn, the late Tim Russert, Richard Wolffe, Laura Ingraham, Liz Cheney, Peggy Noonan, Maureen Dowd, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and even Bill O’Reilly, who offered Hillary the best interview she would do during the 2008 season.   All of this is seen through the economic and political crises of today, health care, women’s individual freedoms being challenged by the right, Afghanistan, women’s rise around the world, the debt ceiling debate, tax cuts for the wealthy, Occupy Wall Street and an American public disenchanted with both Republicans and Democrats. 

Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: Premier Digital Publishing (November 14, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1937624641
• ISBN-13: 978-1937624644
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,519,246 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressed! December 15, 2011

By helen

Format:Kindle Edition

I received "The Hillary Effect" as a gift, and now will be buying it for a couple of my friends (via Amazon). Anyone who believes in, and supported, Hillary Clinton; and followed her campaign as closely as Taylor Marsh did - this book is a must-read. Those who have a take-her-or-leave-her attitude about Hillary Clinton might want to become better informed about the woman and the person she is. Kudos to Taylor Marsh for laying it all out and capturing so many important moments and milestones in Hillary Clinton's life, and all through her campaign for the Democratic nomination. Nothing is sugar-coated. Marsh presents her history with precision accuracy. I have cried while reading "The Hillary Effect", and then cried again. But I have laughed as well; and grinned so widely my face got cramped. So many "ah-hah" moments underlining what we thought we already knew but couldn't quite explain. I highly recommend.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book is a sumptuous feast December 19, 2011

By upstate bill

Format:Paperback

I have already put in my two cents having read the Kindle version. This book
is well written and well researched. This is terrific stuff.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for anyone following politics! December 20, 2011

By Daubry

Format:Kindle Edition

Walking into the polling booth, February 5th was unlike any experience I had ever felt. There was a sense of urgency in the air and excitement.

And when Hillary Clinton gave her concession speech, in Washington D.C., my sister-in-law informed me she had to sit and watch with her daughter, because this was history in the making.

Taylor's book captures all this and more. It is a well researched book, pushing aside fan politics for the realm of reality, but it is also personal and poignant at times. No it is not a rehash of old rivalries or reliving the primary, but the story of Hillary Clinton's historic candidacy weaves its way throughout the book, because of the challenges it presented to our preconceived notions, not only about Hillary, a former first lady of Arkansas and the U.S.A., a senator from New York, and presidential hopeful, but to that of women as a whole.

The book takes to task, with Taylor's sharp tongue and trademark wit (which readers like myself find daily on her blog), the establishment media who frankly didn't know how to handle a female who was a viable candidate for President, especially a Clinton. While simultaneously name-dropping alleged progressive blogs, who were anything but. Unlike Game Change, the Hillary Effect makes no effort to blindly praise its presidential hopeful, Taylor is candid about the Clinton campaigns missteps and mismanagement; but dually blasts the notion the Obama campaign was running a clean campaign (quite the contrary).

The Hillary campaign runs through the book, but like I've said it's not the main focus, there is always a bigger picture at the end of every chapter. My favorite chapter, "Is Freedom just for Men?", tackles the rise of females after Hillary's loss, those who benefited most: Republican women.... From Sarah Palin, Nikki Haley, to Michelle Bachmann; conservative women are re-defining what freedom means for a woman, and at the state level we are seeing a historic amount of challenges to women's freedoms.

Taylor, who describes herself as a "recovering partisan", spotlights what is wrong with both parties, the sexism entrenched in our culture, the rise of the Tea Party, the meaning behind the occupy wall street protests, the upcoming 2012 election, and women's progress globally, this is all built upon the Hillary Effect, which sets the stage for our modern political landscape. A prime example being the rise of women in politics, conservatives included but also major changes to our political spending during elections (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission)

Hopefully, one day we will all be able to look back at that historic run, our current political atmosphere, and recognize the changes Hillary's presidential run made to our own politics, whether here at home or around the world. And I know, when I look at my four nieces that if any of them want to run for President one day, that challenge was made a little less steep, the climb a little less weary, the attacks a little softer, the media fairer, because someone paved the way first. Read more ›

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fast Moving Perceptive, Almost Prophetic Book July 24, 2012

By Joel L. Gandelman VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

When "The Hillary Effect" came out in December you could have bet that it would have been just one more of these quickie political books that seem to be a collection of uninspired recycled reporting notes, or reworded blog posts, except this time it would focus on the ill-fated Presidential nomination campaign of Hillary Clinton, American history's first Presidential primary winning female candidate. In fact, "The Hillary Effect" proved to be a breath of 21st century new journalism fresh air. In several ways, it's standing the test of time because Washington analyst Taylor Marsh's analysis is so perceptive that -- no joke -- you can't find a lot of her spot-on observations about politics, politics' ruthlessness, and sexism in media and in politics anywhere else.

She contends that Hillary Clinton faced a double edged, razor-sharp sword, and fell on it: the news media's treatment of her was different as First Lady, Senator and as the country's first viable female Presidential aspirant, not just because she was a woman, but because she was Hillary Clinton. She had some baggage to shed, started effectively shedding it, and Team Obama made it their mission to make sure they loaded her up with more of it.

Today, "The Hillary Effect" is more relevant than ever. Marsh is also extremely tough on Republicans). And she's also tough as nails on on Team Hillary for their catastrophic mistakes of judgment, hubris and campaign implementation which helped produce a President Barack Obama. But the real meat of "The Hillary Effect" is Marsh's analysis of the long range impact of what Hillary Clinton tried to do, failed to do due to her campaign's mistakes and, in the end, actually did....

Marsh convincingly makes the case that The Hillary Effect's impact was huge on America (much bigger than The O'Reilly Factor's). Why?

If Hillary Clinton didn't exactly break "the glass ceiling," Marsh details how her primary wins broke the chandelier a few feet away from the ceiling -- and how the shards of shattered chandelier produced opportunities for GOP conservative women such as the anti-Hillary Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. Marsh takes no prisoners when pointing out the sexist statements, sexist assumptions and behavior of many male political and media figures from both parties.

When you read "The Hillary Effect" you'll find yourself saying, "Hey! That's right! I never realized that before" -- and you'll increasingly notice how this pattern of sexist perceptions and sexist throw-away comments persists to this day (a baloney ceiling remains). How much do I like "The Hillary Effect?" This much: I read it once and it's still on the front page of my Kindle because I'm reading it again so I can soak in the analysis and enjoy the no-nonsense, blunt, yet-supported-by-facts Taylor Marsh style.

So on yours truly there may be: "The Taylor Marsh Effect." Read more ›

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and Intriguing December 16, 2011

By Velveteen Pug

Format:Kindle Edition

I wasn't sure what to expect, I thought this might be a rehash of a painful battle for office or a play by play of the agony of Hillary's defeat. Instead it's an eye opening, sometimes challenging and always interesting read about politics, women, sexism and the media. Ms. Marsh pulls no punches, carries significant opinions and substantiates her musings with lots of back up. For political scholars as well as those still scratching heads and wondering what went wrong for Hillary, what went right for Sarah and what does the future hold for women and men in the political realm.