No Way to Pick a President - Hardcover

The title of longtime Washington journalist Jules Witcover's No Way to Pick a President says it all. His thesis, simply put, is that "the process by which the United States chooses its leader has been hijacked--by money, ambition, and, yes, the ingenuity of the men and women who practice the art of politics." Political consultants who charge a percentage, negative campaigning, the dominance of money and television advertising, the celebritization of journalism, the compressed primary process--all of these, Witcover suggests, are to blame. Political junkies will certainly want to read No Way to Pick a President, but so should everyone who cares about America or is worried about the political process. There are no answers here but a great many important questions worth considering. --Linda Killian

Never before has so much money poured into a presidential campaign as is flowing into the election of 2000. Jules Witcover, who has covered every election since 1952, here combines unparalleled knowledge about presidential politics with a scintillating, wise analysis of what's wrong with the way American presidents are chosen. He shows us, in memorable and dramatic detail, how professional mercenaries--with little party loyalty and diminished political principles, driven by an insatiable need for money and skewed priorities--are corrupting American public life. At the same time, he shows how television dramatically, even destructively, distorts the election process, discouraging voter participation and dissuading some of our most promising public figures from seeking high office. In this lively, story-filled account, Witcover examines the many ways in which politicians themselves have condoned or encouraged these developments, and how they are responding to the new demands of a media-driven, money-conscious age. He assesses the effects of campaign funds both "soft" and "hard," and of a press corps that practices invasive, "gotcha" journalism in its own quest for greater celebrity and financial reward. After considering the dangers of the electoral-college system--he calls it "an accident waiting to happen"--he concludes with sage and experienced recommendations on how to improve our presidential politics and revive public interest and confidence in American democracy.