The Battle for America 2008
The Story of an Extraordinary Election
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The Battle for America 2008
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Narrated by:
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Dick Hill
About this listen
Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson followed this campaign from the candidates' first forays into Iowa and New Hampshire to the historic night of Obama's victory celebration. They offer behind-the-scenes details of turning points, like the stunning endorsement of Obama by Senator Edward M. Kennedy. They probe the strategic mistakes of the Clinton campaign and the story behind Obama's breakthrough organization. And they cast new light on McCain's struggle for survival in the Republican primaries, his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, and the economic meltdown that ensured Obama's victory. Exclusive interviews with the candidates and their top strategists produce intimate portraits of Obama, Clinton, and McCain under stress throughout the longest and most expensive presidential campaign in American history.
Balz and Johnson also move far off the campaign trail to listen to voters in battleground states express their deep anxieties about the darkening economic climate and the challenges facing the United States. This audiobook is a riveting account of how this election not only marked a new era in American politics but also offered a test of historic proportions at a watershed moment for our nation.
©2009 Haynes Johnson and Dan Balz (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Fight
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- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 526
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 508
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Story4 out of 5 stars 508
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By: Jonathan Allen, and others
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Countdown 1960
- The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 312 Days That Changed America's Politics Forever
- By: Chris Wallace, Mitch Weiss - contributor
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker, Chris Wallace
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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It’s January 2, 1960: the day that Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy declared his candidacy; and with this opening scene, Chris Wallace offers listeners a front-row seat to history. From the challenge of primary battles in a nation that had never elected a Catholic president, to the intense machinations of the national conventions—where JFK chose Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate over the impassioned objections of his brother Bobby—this is a nonfiction political thriller filled with intrigue, cinematic action, and fresh reporting.
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Better books on the 60s
- By Customer - Reader on 02-22-25
By: Chris Wallace, and others
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The Price of Power
- How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America and Lost His Party
- By: Michael Tackett
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
In The Price of Power, award-winning journalist Michael Tackett pulls back the curtain on one of the most influential figures to ever set foot in the American Senate, offering you an intimate, personal view of his life and career. Drawing on thousands of pages of archival materials, letters, and more than 100 interviews with associates, colleagues, and McConnell himself, Tackett pieces together the story of McConnell’s early life, his formative battle with polio as a young child, and details his forty-plus-year career as one of the Senate’s most impactful leaders.
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5 out of 5 stars
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WOW
- By Daisy Mae on 03-22-25
By: Michael Tackett
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Collision 2012
- Obama vs. Romney and the Future of Elections in America
- By: Dan Balz
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4 out of 5 stars 39
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-
5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating. Couldn't stop listening.
- By Gregory E Benoit on 07-24-16
By: Dan Balz
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Double Down
- Game Change 2012
- By: Mark Halperin, John Heilemann
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,003
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 865
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 874
In their runaway best seller Game Change, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann captured the full drama of Barack Obama’s improbable, dazzling victory over the Clintons, John McCain, and Sarah Palin. With the same masterly reporting, unparalleled access, and narrative skill, Double Down picks up the story in the Oval Office, where the president is beset by crises both inherited and unforeseen - facing defiance from his political foes, disenchantment from the voters, disdain from the nation’s powerful money machers, and dysfunction within the West Wing.
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3 out of 5 stars
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About HALF as good as Game Change
- By Jackie on 11-10-13
By: Mark Halperin, and others
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The Audacity to Win
- The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory
- By: David Plouffe
- Narrated by: Erik Davies
- Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 204
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 125
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 123
The story of the most important political campaign in modern times, by the man who went through it side by side with President Obama.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating book; don't care for the narration
- By Susan on 11-23-09
By: David Plouffe
What listeners say about The Battle for America 2008
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Thomas
- 11-05-09
interesting modern history but...
Really enjoyed the book, and after getting used to the narroator thought pace/reading was excellent.
I found the book interesting because most of what i read is 20th century history in which the author is farther temporally removed from the subject. The close temporal relationship to the subject of this book makes the history more intriguing, given that the authors have access to the thoughts and even quotes of what went on in certain meetings etc. In this regard, I found this incredibly interesting.
What I got out of this however, is that it's still hard to figure out, for instance, what happend to Clinton and why she lost. yes, you get a flavor of the "Clinton paranoia" that seems to be omnipresent whenever bill and hiliary are involved. it's always someone else's fault and everyone is out to get them. But even then, there is not great insight into exactly what they could have done differently to change an outcome. The bottom line is that its hard to understand why the flux of the election went the way it did, other than that the country was really ready for a completely different approach and, as is usual in politics, you need both a figure with a particular message and the times/nation has to be at a point in history that mirrors that message. I think you could argue the same thing about the Reagan revolution.
Overall, very enjoyable, but not overly insightful. Maybe understanding 2008 is just beyond rationale analysis, and the election results were sort of inevitable given the mood the country.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mom of 2
- 05-19-22
Was not as good as Game Change but close
I read Game Change which i thought was wonderful. This was more detailed and at first I thought too
slow. Then I read another time and enjoyed all the minutia details Game Change didn't explore. Narrator
was very good also.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 09-03-09
The best of the genre
I have read several books about the 2008 election and books discussing what the election might say about America. I found "The Battle for America 2008" among the best in both categories. Although the authors focused on the Clinton v Obama battle, they also address the Republican primary, the selection of Palin and the general election. I found an obvious effort to provide a balanced report, sometimes more successfully than others. Republicans might pick up some pointers about how they went from a ruling party to back benchers in 6 years and Democrats might learn what they need to do to hold the center of the country in future elections.
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4 people found this helpful