Follow the author

Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race Paperback – Bargain Price, October 10, 2006

by Dick Morris (Author), Eileen McGann (Author)

3.6 45 ratings

Who will be president in 2008? Many believe that the White House is Hillary Clinton's to lose. As long-time strategists Dick Morris and Eileen McGann reveal in Condi vs. Hillary, however, Hillary's plans for higher office are vulnerable to a challenge from a most unexpected quarter: the Bush administration's secretary of state and former national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice.

Rice is the only figure on the national scene who has the credentials, the credibility, and the charisma to lead the GOP in 2008. And, as this first book on the subject demonstrates, a race between these two commanding, but very different, women is a very real possibility -- and would inevitably prove one of the most fascinating and important races in American history.

Blending insider insight and political foresight, Condi vs. Hillary surveys the strengths and weaknesses of the two candidates, finding persuasive clues about what we might expect from each of them as a chief executive. It traces their very different childhoods -- Hillary Rodham's in unchallenging suburban comfort, Condi Rice's in Birmingham, Alabama, during the civil rights era -- and finds in each the roots of their latter-day selves. It explores their career in public life -- Hillary's as an ambitious liberal who attached herself to a governor on the rise, Condi's as a woman of broad and deep talents who has earned her own way. It turns a discerning eye on how each has spent her time in government, contrasting Condi's growth and maturation in office with Hillary's record of underachievement as both first lady and senator from New York. And it reveals how a draft-Condi movement could sweep the secretary of state into the presidency even as she forgoes campaigning to address her responsibilities as secretary of state.

America, in short, may be on the verge of a perfect storm of twenty-first-century politics, pitting two of America's most popular -- and controversial -- women against each other, and offering Americans a choice between fulfilling the ambitions of one of our most polarizing figures . . . or changing history by electing not just the first woman, but also the first African American woman, to lead the free world into the future.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harper Paperbacks
Publication date

October 10, 2006
Dimensions

6 x 0.84 x 9 inches
See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dick Morris served as Bill Clinton's political consultant for twenty years. A regular political commentator on Fox News, he is the author of ten New York Times bestsellers (all with Eileen McGann) and one Washington Post bestseller.

Eileen McGann is an attorney who, with her husband, Dick, writes columns for the New York Post and for their website, dickmorris.com. She has written extensively about the abuses of Congress and the need for reform.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005Q823G0
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Paperbacks (October 10, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.84 x 9 inches

Customer Reviews:
3.6 45 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Dick Morris

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Dick Morris served as Bill Clinton's political consultant for twenty years. A regular political commentator on Fox News and other networks, he is the author of six New York Times bestsellers (all with Eileen McGann) and one Washington Post bestseller.

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5

45 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Letta Meinen

A race worth watching

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2005

Verified Purchase

I just finished this book Condi vs Hilliary and found it very fascinating. I had thought of Condi as the next President some time ago and when I heard of this book I had to read it.

Dick Morris and his wife Eileen McGann paint an interesting tale of what a presidential election would be like if these two women were primary candidates for President. They also give much background on each woman. This is when you realize how different each woman lived leading up to this stage of their life.

I realize that Dick Morris has had his problems with the Clinton's before but I belive he is the only one who knows them best. He points out Hillary's good points, her steadfast determination to become the first woman President. He also points out her bad points, as her volitile personality that erupts if not kept under control.

I enjoyed reading of Condi's education and development as she pursued her interest in foreign affairs. Part of this book dealt with how to start a grass root campaign for Condi as was done for Eisenhower before his election as President. He also states her negative points are that she has never been elected to office and has had no experience in domestic problems.

After reading some other reviews here I am sure many of them had never read the book. They are just against it because Morris must hate Hilliary and wish her defeated. All I can say is read the book then decide.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

MT

The Intersection of Literary and Political Irony (Had the clintons listened to Morris, Condi + this book would be non sequiturs)

Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2005

While Dick Morris' central premise, that Giuliani cannot be nominated, has been obsoleted by Katrina--competent terror/disaster-management now trumps social conservatism for all but the most intractable on the religious right, and while Morris' other premise, that hillary clinton is a formidable presidential candidate, is demonstrably false, I do agree with Morris that Condi Rice would easily dispense with missus clinton.

Indeed, even the clinton camp concurs, witness ABC's "Commander-in-Chief" Mackenzie Allen, who is a carefully crafted Condi-Rice clone. She is not hillary clinton. Indeed, she is specifically antihillary.

Because ABC is part of the permanent clinton agitprop, this can mean only one thing: hillary clinton and her agitprop machine have determined that missus clinton, the construct, is unelectable... and that Condi Rice is both eminently qualified and highly electable.

Because ABC is part of the permanent clinton agitprop, because the "Commander-in Chief" head writer, Steve Cohen, is a veteran of clinton campaigns and hillary's press office, because the producer/director, Rod Lurie, is a known clinton sycophant with Riefenstahl delusions, because the show has been perfectly positioned to desensitize the electorate to the notion of a woman president just in time for hillary, one would not expect ABC to model the show's protagonist after hillary clinton's infinitely more qualified potential rival.

So why has it done just that?

"Commander-in-Chief" is electoral legerdemain. It is yet another clinton two-step intended to fool the voters. It is designed to:

1. desensitize them to the concept of a female president, using a highly qualified exemplar, the Condi-Rice clone.

2. bait-and-switch: conflate the highly qualified, electable Condi-Rice clone with the highly unqualified, unelectable hillary clinton

ALL HILLARY, ALL THE TIME...

This is not to say the series isn't ALL about hillary. You just don't SEE hillary.

You don't see hillary's looming presence.

You don't see her smallness. Her haughty distain. Her flat affect.

You don't see her corruption. Her ineptitude. Her banality.

You don't see her rage. Her coldness.

You don't see her abusiveness. Her vulgarity. Her stridency.

You don't see her extremism. Her balkanizing. Her lust for power.

You don't see the harridan. You don't see the Hildabeast.

SHELL GAME

What you do see is Condi, Condi in a President Allen "shell."

You see a President Allen who is idealistic, is accomplished in her own right, does not crave power, has a nonpartisan streak, is an intellectual, an expert in foreign policy (Mideast expertise replaces Soviet for the obvious reason), was plucked from the chancellorship of a great university, speaks with a quiet strength.

You see a President Allen who even looks like Condi Rice. The strong bone structure, the wideset intelligent brown eyes, the full lips, the brunette, retro flip, (aka 'power flip' post-Condi), the great figure. And perhaps definitively, the legs.

(for actual descriptor morphs, google: HILLARY'S COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF PROBLEM)

It would be naive to think that this wasn't a precise clinton calculation, what with her main man the lead writer and a clinton sycophant the producer/director.

At first I thought it was a feint. If "Commander-in-Chief" is a too-transparent hillary infomercial, ABC's agenda will certainly backfire. Perhaps that was the initial reasoning and explains why, for example, gorgeous Geena Davis and not some squat bottle-blonde matron, was cast in the lead.

HOLLYWOOD-DC RATIONALE

But in the end, there are two reasons for the Condi clone, corresponding to the two cities of the Hollywood-DC axis.

The first is straightforward: Hollywood typecasts. Condi is presidential and hillary is a fishwife.

And the second is the thesis, above, that hillary clinton and her agitprop machine have determined that missus clinton, the construct, (missus clinton, "as is,") is unelectable, and so the clinton agitprop must desensitize and bait-and-switch.

They will desensitize the electorate to the concept of a female president, (using a highly qualified exemplar, the Condi-Rice clone because they have determined that a hillary exemplar would be rejected, that, indeed, given the post-9/11 realities, Condi Rice is perhaps the only female exemplar that would work.)

Then they will bait and switch; conflate the highly qualified, electable Condi-Rice clone with the highly unqualified, unelectable hillary clinton. Indeed, the clinton conflation ploy to make hillary acceptable to the voter is already a clinton standard operating procedure, witness missus clinton's address to the Democratic Leadership Council in Columbus, Ohio in July. (google 'Schema Pinocchio.')

While America appears not to be ready for a female president under any circumstances, the post-9/11 realities pose special problems for a female presidential candidate. Add to these the problems unique to missus clinton. The reviews make the mistake of focusing on the problems of the generic female presidential candidate running during ordinary times.

These are not ordinary times. America is waging the global War on Terror; the uncharted territory of asymmetric netherworlds is the battlefield; the enemy is brutal, subhuman; the threat of global conflagration is real.

Defeating the enemy on the battlefield isn't sufficient. For America to prevail, she must also defeat a retrograde, misogynous, troglodyte mindset. To successfully prosecute the War on Terror, it is essential that the collective patriarchal islamic culture perceives America as politically and militarily strong. Condi Rice excepted, this requirement presents an insurmountable hurdle for any female presidential candidate, and especially missus clinton, historically antimilitary, forever the pitiful victim, and, according to Dick Morris, "the biggest dove in the clinton administration."

It is ironic that had the clintons listened to Morris, the Condi scenario would not be in play (and Morris would not have this book for sale), i.e., had the clintons not failed utterly to fight terrorism... not failed to take bin Laden from Sudan... not failed repeatedly to decapitate a nascent, still stoppable al Qaeda... the generic female president as a construct would still be viable... missus clinton's obstacles would be limited largely to standard-issue clintonisms: corruption, abuse, malpractice, malfeasance, megalomania, rape and treason... and, in spite of Juanita Broaddrick, or perhaps because of her, Rod Lurie would be reduced to perversely hawking the "First Gentleman" instead of the "Commander-in-Chief."

For more info, google:

HILLARY'S COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF PROBLEM,

the clintons documented abuse of women,

Why bill clinton ignored terrorism

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

John A Lee III

Biased but Fair

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2005

Verified Purchase

The supposition of this book is interesting but what I found fascinating is an analysis of how the electoral process turned out in 2004 and how this possibly foreshadows the future. That, to me, is the great worth. That being said, there rest was interesting too.

There is no doubt that Dick Morris is biased against Hillary. He details many of her failings but, if such a thing could be said, he does so fairly. He points out her strengths and her real dedication to a few causes. Even while disagreeing with those causes, I can respect the viewpoint. In the end, though, this is not somebody I want.

Morris shows a preference for Condoleezza Rice. He enumerates her strengths but he is also honest about some of her failings. Missing something like the breakup of the USSR while being the NSC representative responsible for the USSR is not a minor glitch.

The contrast in characters between these two possible candidates is worthwhile but the real interest is in seeing an insider's view of how the system works. That made the book worthwhile.

51 people found this helpful

Helpful