Tools
KCLS Resources
The election-related materials listed here are available through the KCLS
Collection. If you don’t find what you’re looking for in this
list, try a keyword search in the Catalog for a more detailed list.
Books for Students
Books for Adults
DVD/Videos
Books for Students
Are American Elections Fair?
by Stuart Kallen
Opposing viewpoints on the fairness of elections in the United States, discussing the Electoral College, electronic voting machines, and the participation of felons and non-citizens in the electoral process.
Barack Obama
by Sherri Devaney
An overview of Barack Obama’s life and his stand on a number of political issues.
Barack Obama
by Stephen Feinstein
An elementary biography of Barack Obama, the United States Senator from Illinois, discusses his childhood, ethnic background, family, and career in politics.
Barack Obama: An American story
by Roberta Edwards
A brief biography of Senator Barack Obama.
Barack Obama: The politics of hope
by William Davis
This biography will give readers a real feel for the man and forces that shaped him. The author uses Obama’s own writings as well as magazine and newspaper articles, TV shows, and extracts from speeches to describe the man and his complicated ethnic background.
Barack Obama: “We are one people,”
by Michael Schuman
Explores the life of Barack Obama, U.S. Senator from Illinois, and his work as a community organizer, lawyer, and politician.
Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton
by Ruth Ashby
A behind-the-scenes look at the Clintons, from their early career successes and the controversies of the Clinton presidency to Hillary’s election to the U.S. Senate.
Democratic Party: America’s oldest party
by Dale Anderson
Describes the origin and history of the Democratic Party. It includes a timeline of events, a list of historic sites, and a safe Web site for additional information.
Election Day
by Marc Nobleman
Discusses, in basic terms, voting and other Election Day topics, and contains a glossary of terms and other supplemental information.
Elections and Voting
by Antony Lishak
Focus on voting and elections, and how they affect people in different ways, bringing together personal stories that highlight the issues. Hear from a disillusioned citizen, a South African voter, a female voter, an Afghan actor, a teenager, an independent politician, a student council candidate, and others.
The Electoral College
by Martha Hewson
Overview of the Electoral College, going back to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, early elections, as well as how the electoral process is working today. The book ends with the question: “Should the Electoral College system be changed?
Federalists and Anti-federalists: How and why political parties were formed in young America
by Gregory Payan
Uses primary source material to show young readers how and why political parties in the United States came to be. It includes information on early politics and the earliest political parties in our young country.
Friendly Foes: A look at political parties
by Elaine Landau
Describes the history and platforms of the two major political parties in the United States–Democratic and Republican–as well as the bigger third party movements.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
by Joanne Mattern
Introduces young readers to the life of Hillary Clinton, from her childhood outside of Chicago, Illinois, to her current term as New York senator and candidate for the 2008 presidential election.
History of the Democratic Party
by Bruce Fish
Traces the origins of the Democratic Party, discussing key figures, conventions, platforms, and its organization.
History of the Democratic Party
by Heather Wagner
An in-depth history of this major political entity. When first established by Thomas Jefferson in 1800, today’s Democratic Party was actually known as the Republican Party. Today’s Democratic Party is the oldest political party in the United States. Chronicles the development of the Democratic Party and the evolution of the American political process.
History of the Republican Party
by Norma Jean Lutz
Traces the origins of the Republican Party, discussing key figures, conventions, platforms and its organization.
History of the Republican Party
by Heather Wagner
Since its formation in 1854, the Republican Party has undergone many profound changes. Wagner fully examines the development of this party, including its prominent figures, key events and ideological trends.
Latino Americans and Political Participation: A reference handbook
by Sharon Navarro
Examines the historical involvement of Latino Americans in U.S. politics and their contribution to the evolving civil rights of all American citizens. Includes an overview of Latino Americans, political opinions and issues of key importance, followed by Latino American participation in protest politics, social movements and interest groups, electoral politics, and political office-holding.
National Elections and the Political Process
by Bryon Giddens-White
Looks inside the workings of the U.S. election system, exploring topics such as the struggles of minorities and women to gain the right to vote, the origins of the Electoral College, and the process of electing national, state, and local leaders.
Native Americans and Political Participation: A reference handbook
by Jerry Stubben
Surveys the contributions Native Americans have made to the democratic process and the political power that tribes and leaders have wielded since Europeans first set foot on American soil. Also provides a historical overview of Native American culture and politics, and analyzes current tribal census, economic and social data, and political opinion surveys.
Political Parties, Interest Groups, and the Media
by Geoffrey Horn
Covers the realities of politics in America, from the importance of political parties, to the lobbying of interest groups, to the influence of the media on elections.
Political Profiles: Barack Obama by Kerrily Sapet
Follows the life of Barack Obama from this early childhood days, to reconnecting with his African family, going to Harvard Law School, being elected to the Senate from the State of Illinois, and being a 2008 Democratic presidential contender.
Political Profiles: John McCain
by Catherine Wells
Details the life of John Sidney McCain, a third-generation military man, including his prisoner-of-war experience in Vietnam, his election as a Senator from the state of Arizona, and his 2008 run for the President of the United States.
Political Profiles: Rudy Giuliani
by Anna Sharp
Details the life of Rudy Giuliani and his dream of becoming the first Italian American president of the United States. For grades 4-7.
Politics, American Style: Political parties in American history
by Isobel Morin
An in-depth look at the evolution of political parties in America from the Constitutional Convention era to today. Readers will come away with an understanding of the workings of politics, including the role of third parties in the political machine, and the benefits of a two-party system.
Presidential Races: The battle for power in the United States
by Arlene Morris-Lipsman
Describes how election campaigns for the office of president of the United States have changed from the time of George Washington to the Bush vs. Kerry campaign of 2004.
The Progressive Party: The success of a failed party
by Hilarie Staton
This Snapshots in History volume examines the Progressive Party founded by 1912 by former President Theodore Roosevelt and other reform-minded Republicans. Other political parties and presidential administrations have since adopted reforms that started out as part of the Progressive Party platform.
Ralph Nader: Man with a Mission
by Nancy Bowen
A biography of the consumer advocate, who has devoted his life to crusading for citizens' rights, and ran as the Green Party's presidential candidate in 2000.
The Republican Party: The story of the Grand Old Party
by Dale Anderson
Describes the origin and history of the Republican Party, including a timeline of events, a list of historic sites, and a safe Web site for additional information.
Running for Office: A look at political campaigns
by Sandy Donovan
Describes what is involved in running a political campaign, from deciding to run for office through election night.
Selma and the Voting Rights Act
by David Aretha
Chronicles the events surrounding Dr. Martin Luther King and his attempts to organize peaceful marches to protest voting injustices experiences by black voters in the South and in Selma, Alabama in particular. For grades 3-7.
Third Parties: Influential political alternatives
by Lisa Klobuchar
Provides a look at the history and influence of third political parties in United States history.
Voting
by Sarah De Capua
Covers the topics of voting: who can vote, how votes are cast and counted, and why should you vote. Includes a glossary plus a “To Find Out More” section listing books, organizations and Internet sites. For elementary students.
Books for Adults
Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans–sordid secrets & strange tales of a White House gone wild
by Greg Palast
Feared from corporate suites to Osama's cave, Palast's old-style gumshoe detective approach digs out the info on the War on Terror, greed-dripping schemes to seize little nations with lots of oil, the hidden program to steal the 2008 election, and the media biases that keep it unreported.
Barack Obama in His Own Words
by Lisa Rogak
Since delivering his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Obama has been hailed as the clear savior of not only the Democratic Party but also the integrity of American politics. Compiled quotes from the presidential candidate allow readers to learn his positions on the issues facing America and the world, from abortion, Afghanistan, immigration, and nuclear weapons to religion and the "war on terror."
Barack Obama, The new face of American politics
by Martin Dupruis
Obama's state senate career and his decision to enter the U.S. Senate race are examined. The authors analyze Obama's ability to speak to the concerns of multiple constituencies by appealing to a coalition of voters that transcends race, class, and gender. As his presidential run has demonstrated, Obama gives new meaning to the American dream.
Barack Obama: This improbable quest
by John Wilson
As the first presidential candidate from Generation X, Obama has generated an exciting movement of young people to support his campaign as he defines a new kind of broadly popular progressive politics. Much more than a biography, this is a political tour of Obama's legislative experience as well as his ideas about race, religion, and politics. The author explores the reaction Obama has received from the left, the right, and the media.
Black Box Voting: Ballot tampering in the 21st Century
by Bev Harris
This expose on electronic voting documents more than 100 cases where voting machines miscounted elections. Internal memos detail the source code and programming that controls voting machines used worldwide.
A Bound Man: Why we are excited about Obama, why he can’t win
by Shelby Steele
The author asserts that Senator Barack Obama's groundbreaking quest to be president is fast becoming a galvanizing occasion beyond mere presidential politics, one that is forcing a national dialogue on the current state of race relations in America.
Brave New Ballot: The battle to safeguard democracy in the age of electronic voting
by Aviel Rubin
The electronic voting machines being used in 37 states are easily vulnerable to tampering. The manufacturers are not required to reveal how they operate—even to the government agencies that buy their services. Without retainable—recountable—paper ballots, voters will never know if their votes are recorded properly. Outlines steps to take the next time you vote to make sure that your vote is counted accurately.
Choosing the President 2008: A citizen’s guide to the electoral process
by League of Women Voters, edited by Bob Guldin
The League of Women Voters, founded in 1920 to help women achieve the right to vote, is a neutral consumer’s advocate group whose mission is to educate voters. This guide offers pointers for getting the most out of the upcoming election by directing voters to the best political Web sites, helping them evaluate news coverage and media ads, and suggesting what to look for during the debates and the conventions. In addition to covering all steps in the presidential election process, this guide takes an informed, nonpartisan look at the hot-button issues of the 2008 election: from the growing diversity among the candidates themselves, to increased frontloading of the primaries, to the growing influence of Internet sites such as YouTube and MySpace, to the crisis in public funding of presidential campaigns. The League of Women Voters' offering is an essential text for understanding the process, laws, and issues that impact a U.S. presidential election.
Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How one side lost its mind and the other lost its nerve
by Bernard Goldberg
Fox News commentator Goldberg contends that “if the wimps on the right don't regain their courage and reclaim their principles, the crazies on the left just might win” the White House in '08.
Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party)
by Rod Dreher
At a time when the Republican party, and the conservative movement in general, is bitterly divided over what it means to be a conservative, the author introduces us to people who are pioneering a way back to the future by reclaiming what they feel is best in conservatism.
Democracy’s Edge: Choosing to save our country by bringing democracy to life
by Frances Lappe
From Jefferson to Eisenhower, presidents from both parties have warned us of the danger of letting a closed, narrow group of business and government officials concentrate power over our lives. Such a democracy is always at risk of being stolen by private interests or extremist groups, left and right. The author contends that the answer is in a powerful yet often invisible citizens’ revolution surging in communities across America. He suggests that it is not random, disjointed activism but the emergence of a new historical stage of democracy in which Americans realize that democracy isn’t something we have, but is something we do.
Divided America: The ferocious power struggle in American politics
by Earl Black
Explores, from a regional perspective, the divisions between liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans. A wealth of data illustrates the regional realignment of voters that is driving contemporary U.S. politics: how the South and West have moved toward the Republican Party, the Pacific West and Northeast have become Democratic strongholds, and the Midwest hangs in the balance.
Election 2008: A voter’s guide
by Franklin Foer
Featuring the writers and editors of The New Republic, this handbook of the 2008 presidential election contains information the writers believe every citizen needs to know. Contains profiles of the candidates, as well as a compendium of facts and figures about their campaigns.
Feingold: A new Democratic Party
by Sanford Horwitt
A compelling independent biography about Russ Feingold, a staunch civil libertarian, who represents the progressive side of the Democratic divide. Feingold places a high value on honest, efficient government, investment in public education, health and infrastructure, and curbs on corporate power and other wealthy interests in the political process. He is noted for working with Republican John McCain on campaign finance reform legislation. Feingold shows how a new, reinvigorated Democratic Party can stand for progressive ideals, resist the corrupting influence of special interests and win elections.
The First Campaign: Globalization, the Web, and the race for the White House
by Garrett Graff
The 2008 presidential campaign is like none in recent memory: the first campaign in forty years in which both the Democrats and the Republicans must nominate a new candidate, and the first ever in which the issues of globalization and technology will decide the outcome. The author represents the people whom all the candidates want to engage: young, technologically savvy, concerned about the future. The unanswered question the author asks is whether the two major parties will seize the moment and run the first campaign of the new era, or will they run the last campaign all over again?
Framing the Debate: Famous presidential speeches and how Progressives can use them to change the conversation and win elections
by Jeffrey Feldman
Outlines ways to unleash the power of communication in contemporary progressive politics. Using fifteen key speeches by American presidents, Feldman defines the big ideas and images–the "frames"–that each speech evokes, and shows how those framing techniques can be applied to today's political debate to promote a progressive perspective.
Gaming the Vote: Why elections aren’t fair, and what we can do about it
by William Poundstone
At least five U.S. presidential elections have been won by the second most popular candidate, but these results were not inevitable casualties of the American voting system. In all five cases, the vote was upset by a "spoiler"–a minor candidate–who took enough votes away from the most popular candidate to tip the election to someone else. The answer to the spoiler problems lies in a system called range voting, which would satisfy both right and left. Already widely used on the Internet, range voting is the fairest voting method of all, according to computer studies. Despite these findings, range voting remains controversial, and Poundstone assesses the obstacles confronting any attempt to change the U.S. electoral system.
Get Out of Our House: Revolution! A new plan for selecting representatives
by Tim Cox
The author details a plan that can be used to evict all politicians from the U.S. House of Representatives and replace them with patriots. The author, a self-described patriot, has created a system designed to bypass the two parties, sever all ties with special interest money, replace career politicians, and hold elected officials accountable.
Hopes and Dreams: The story of Barack Obama
by Steve Dougherty
The author provides an authoritative and up-to-the-moment new biography on one of the most important figures on the national political stage. A lively overview of Obama's life, this timely book begins with his difficult childhood as the son of a Kansas-born college student and a black Kenyan who abandoned the family, moves through his election to president of the Harvard Law Review, his early political career, his family life, his 2004 election to U.S. Senator, and his emergence as a symbol of hope for America.
How to Rig and Election: Confessions of a Republican operative
by Allen Raymond
Fresh out of grad school, the author joined the GOP for one reason: rumor had it that there was big money to be made on the Republican side of the aisle. From the earliest days of the “Republican Revolution” through its culmination in the second Bush White House, the author played a key role in helping GOP candidates twist the truth during a decade of crucial and bitterly fought campaigns. The author offers an astonishingly frank look at the black art of campaigning and the vagaries of the Republican establishment.
If They Only Listened to Us: What women voters want politicians to hear
by Melinda Henneberger
Soon after the 2004 presidential election, the author set out across the country to listen to women of all ages and occupations express their strong opinions on the major issues of our time. The author shines a light on what women voters are thinking and how that translates into how and for whom they vote. The issues that these women focused on were Iraq, abortion, the environment, globalization and job loss, corruption and lack of trust in the government and the entire electoral process.
In Defense of the Religious Right: Why conservative Christians are the lifeblood of the Republican Party and why that terrifies the Democrats
by Patrick Hynes
The author challenges common stereotypes and misapprehensions about the most powerful political constituency in the country while undertaking the most exhaustive effort yet to define what the Religious Right is, what its members believe, and why they are right.
Independents Day: Awakening the American spirit
by Lou Dobbs
Dobbs starts with a sobering view of where we stand today, and how he believes we got here. The author contends that with the most important election in years facing us in 2008, there are signs that the public has begun to reclaim its voice in the national dialogue, asserting its right to be heard in a new, vitally engaged populism. He sees the electorate as rejecting the pointless turf wars of partisan politics while confronting the genuine challenges that face us with a passionate commitment to the ideals of independence and equality for the common good.
King County Elections Operations, 2005
In 2005, the King County Council mandated a management audit of the Elections Section of the King County Records, Elections and Licensing Services Division. The Council’s goal by ordering this audit was to restore voter confidence in the county’s election process. Voter confidence had been eroded due to process breakdowns that occurred in recent elections that were highlighted by the exceptionally close gubernatorial election of 2004. The report finds additional opportunities to increase management controls, strengthen election procedures and practices and improve the policy environment that drives the elections processes. A total 0f 25 recommendations are addressed in this report. (5 copies NO ISBN found)
Leave Us Alone: Getting the government’s hands off our money, our guns, our lives
by Grover Norquist
Conservative activist Norquist describes two competing coalitions in American politics, how they are organized, what makes them stronger or weaker, what each can achieve and what they cannot do. See Norquist’s view of American politics: where it has been, where it is, and particularly where it will go–through a series of economic, demographic, and political trends that will shape these coalitions in the years to come.
McCain: The myth of a maverick
by Matt Welch
John McCain is one of the most familiar, sympathetic, and overexposed figures in American politics, according to the author, yet his concrete governing philosophy and actual track record have been left curiously unexamined. The author gives us what we've always wanted but can't find: a flesh-and-bones political portrait of a man onto whom people are forever projecting their own ideological fantasies. Welch provides the key for decoding McCain's allegedly "maverick" actions, and the first realistic assessment of what a John McCain presidency would look like.
A Mormon in the White House? 10 things every American should know about Mitt Romney
by Hugh Hewitt
Hewitt dives deep into Romney's record, his strengths, weaknesses, and what he calls “the Mormon Problem." Hewitt provides a window into the life of this man who ran for president, and into his devout faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Neglected Voter: White men and the Democratic dilemma
by David Kuhn
In the 1960s, the Republican Party won over a crucial demographic: white male voters. The author explains how America's conservative party came to dominate this key voting bloc and consequently the White House. Equipped with rare access to exit polls, exclusive interviews and unprecedented research data, the author examines the role of gender and racial identity, each party's gains and losses through the social changes of the last fifty years, and how they can win white men back.
New American Story by Bill Bradley
The author believes that America is at a teachable moment when we are compelled to reevaluate our political system, our leadership, our agenda as a nation, and ourselves as citizens. He shows why the story we are being told now about who we are as a people is not true, and explores what changes need to be made in our parties, in our politics, and in citizen activism to ensure America's future.
Obama: From promise to power
by David Mendell
In this biography, the author gives a portrait of the boy named Barry who took inspiration from his hardworking parents and became the eloquent, suave Obama–a man whose last name has become a catchphrase for hope in a politically jaded society desperate for a new star. The author’s research includes interviews with Obama's closest aides, mentors, political adversaries, and family. He reveals the surprising, cutthroat campaign tactics sanctioned by Obama, who has steeped his image and reputation with the ideals of clean politics and good government, to win his Senate seat by employing some of the most ruthless operatives in the business.
One Party Country: The Republican plan for dominance in the 21st Century
by Tom Hamburger
The author discusses in great detail the misuse of Executive Branch power for raw political purposes, through redistricting, micro-targeting, fundraising, arm-twisting, and other techniques. Republicans are well poised to compete in every forthcoming election, in every district, for years to come. Democrats are confident going into 2008, but the Republican advantages endure. Through a rigorous examination of the GOP machine, Hamburger reveals how a true Democratic resurgence faces steep barriers erected by conservatives who have worked to build their dominant position since the days of Barry Goldwater.
The Political Brain: The role of emotion in deciding the fate of the nation
by Drew Westen
The author contends that we vote with our hearts, not our minds. He investigates the role emotions play in determining the political life of our nation, and identifies three things that determine how people vote: their feelings toward the parties and their principles, feelings toward the candidates, and feelings toward the candidates' policy positions. These discoveries could utterly transform electoral arithmetic, showing how a different view of the mind and brain leads to a different way of talking with voters about issues that have tied the tongues of Democrats for much of forty years—such as abortion, guns, taxes, and race.
Positively American: Winning back the middle class majority one family at a time
by Chuck Schumer
The author offers his plan for capturing the middle-class vote and moving the Democratic Party back into the majority. As the results of the last presidential election played out, it became clear that while Democrats call themselves the party of the middle, the middle class does not consider the Democrats their party. The author offers the reader detail proposals he believes would keep America safe, secure, and on top; while supporting the aspirations of a prosperous and growing middle class while speaking to anxieties created in a world changed by technology and globalization.
Republic.Com 2.0
by Cass Sustein
The author rethinks the critical relationship between democracy and the Internet in a world where partisan Web logs have emerged as significant forces in politics, and cyber-jihadists have embraced the Internet to thwart democracy and spread violence. The author demonstrates that the real question is how to avoid "information cocoons," ensure that the unrestricted choices made possible by technology do not undermine democracy. Sustein also proposes new remedies and reforms, focusing far less on what government should do, and much more on what consumers and producers should do to help democracy avoid the perils–and realize the promise–of the Internet.
A Second Civil War: How extreme partisanship has paralyzed Washington and polarized America
by Ronald Brownstein
The author analyzes the forces that have made this era in American politics as divisive and bitterly partisan as any since the Civil War. Brownstein diagnoses the electoral, demographic, and institutional forces that have brought such change over the American political landscape leaving precious little common ground for compromise. The book captures the currents that have carried America to today's dangerous impasse, from little-understood changes in congressional rules that made it easier for parties to enforce discipline and discourage compromise, the rise of special-interest pressure groups, and a vastly changed media environment that is much more vicious and much less serious. At the end, the author does provide a menu of clear and compelling ways out of our collective dilemma through unifying leadership.
The Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and sixties radicals seized control of the Democratic Party
by David Horowitz
According to the author, America is under attack by influential and powerful Americans secretly stirring up disunion and disloyalty in the shifting shadows of the Democratic Party. Horowitz contends that radical infiltrators have been quietly transforming America's societal, cultural, and political institutions for more than a generation.
Steal This Vote: Dirty elections and the rotten history of democracy in America
by Andrew Gumbel
A colorful history of electoral malfeasance in the United States. The author shows that, for all the idealism about American democracy, free and fair elections have been the exception, not the rule. Growing use of computer technology in order to increase ease and efficiency of voting is adding to concerns over security. Gumbel lays the blame for this fiasco on a corrupted political environment created by both major parties, and on a large number of state and county election officials more interested in appearances than in the integrity of the democratic process.
Stealing Democracy: The new politics of voter suppression
by Spencer Overton
Politicians spew shallow sound bites that describe a "free" American people who govern themselves by selecting their representatives. In reality, politicians from both parties maintain power by selecting specific voters. Elected officials and bureaucrats control thousands of election practices that determine political winners and losers, including the location of election district boundaries, the number of voting booths at urban polling places, and English-only ballots. Overton, a professor at George Washington University Law School, uses real-life stories to show how these seemingly insignificant practices channel political influence and determine policies on war, schools, clean air, and many other issues that shape our lives. He also exposes the pressure points in this Orwellian system and provides strategies toward restoring government by the people, such as removing redistricting power from self-interested partisans and renewing parts of the Voting Rights Act. Overton's compelling case is vital to the future of our democracy."
Stealing Elections: How voter fraud threatens our democracy
by John Fund
The author explores the real divide the country faces with the looming election. He claims that elections can be decided by the votes of dead people, illegal felon voters, and absentee voters that don't exist. Fund asserts that, if nothing is done to address the growing cynicism about vote counting, another close presidential election that descends into bitter partisan wrangling is just around the corner.
The Strange Death of Republican America: Chronicles of a collapsing party
by Sidney Blumenthal
A penetrating journalistic and historical examination of the ongoing collapse of Republicanism, this work closely charts the Party’s imploding reputation in America and the world, as well as the potential consequences of George W. Bush’s radical presidency for the 2008 election.
Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary: Reflections by women writers
edited by Susan Morrison
A timely collection of thirty original pieces by America's most notable women writers, this pointillistic portrait paints a composite picture of Hillary Clinton. Focusing on details from the personal to the political, from the hard-hitting to the whimsical, the work gives a well-balanced and unbiased view of the first woman to be a leading contender in a presidential primary. Taken together, these essays–by such renowned writers as Daphne Merkin, Lorrie Moore, Deborah Tannen, Susan Cheever, Lionel Shriver, Kathryn Harrison, and Susan Orlean–illuminate the attitudes women have toward the powerful women around them, and constitute a biography that is must reading for anyone interested in understanding this complex and controversial politician
Tragedy and Farce: How the American media sell wars, spin elections, and destroy democracy
by John Nichols
The author contends that the very structure of our conglomerated media system conspires against real journalism and, hence, against truth. Nichols’ book is both an exposé and a call to action. Analyzing the 2004 presidential election, the author states that media mis-coverage of the campaign and the Iraq war decided the election. This flawed coverage reflects new, structural problems within U.S. journalism. Finally, the author contends in our highly concentrated media system it has become commercially and politically irrational to do the kind of journalism a self-governing society requires.
The Undecided Voter’s Guide to the Next President: Where the candidates come from, what they believe, and how to make your choice
by Mark Halperin
A guide to the 2008 presidential candidates provides an overview of each candidate, covering their basics: career, religion, and education; their stands on the war in Iraq, health care, taxes, the economy, and other significant issues; and their strengths and weaknesses from Halperin’s perspective.
Vote to Kill: How 9/11 launched the era of Republican dominance
by Jim Geraghty
The author offers a comprehensive look at why recent elections have given the Republican Party its greatest political success since the 1920s. Despite a lot of talk about values, problems within the GOP, "red state culture," and the slow but vital progress in Iraq, the biggest difference between the two parties remains the subject of safety. Geraghty gives his view on why terrorism was the defining issue in 2002 and 2004, and will be in 2006 and 2008.
DVDs & Videos
Barack Obama
This 50 minute Biography Channel DVD highlights the life of Senator Obama. The democratic political star during the Democratic National Convention in 2004, and now the probable Democratic nominee for President of the United States, Obama’s story is a unique American tale of the 21st century. Biography travels from Obama's childhood in Honolulu and Indonesia, to his formative years at Columbia University and Harvard Law School, all the way to his current status as a leading political figure.
John McCain: American maverick
Produced for History-TV& A&E Network, this 50 minute video examines the life of Senator John McCain, including interviews with Bob Dole, Mark Shields, family members, and McCain himself.
So Goes the Nation: A true story of how elections are won–and lost
This 90 minute DVD examines America’s electoral process through the eyes of diverse politicians, activists, and voters in Ohio during the 2004 election. Shows how the voting public is manipulated by the parties’ leaders and their political marketing strategies.
An Unreasonable Man
Ralph Nader is one of the most passionate and determined personalities of our time. Nader has had more impact on our daily lives than most presidents. This first-hand account takes you behind his consumer advocacy campaigns and contested presidential runs.
Return to the main infoVote 2008 page
Last Updated: July 25, 2008