Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A veteran author, journalist and commentator chronicles the campaign that assured President Barack Obama a second term and cemented a consensus among Americans stretching back to the New Deal. The 2012 election was neither the referendum on the president and the ailing economy as the GOP had hoped, nor simply a choice between the president and his opponent as Obama had wished. Rather, Bloomberg View columnist Alter (The Promise: President Obama, Year One, 2011, etc.) insists, it was a judgment on the Republicans and their mean-spirited billionaire backers, right-wing media cheerleaders, proponents of voter suppression and "clown car" of primary candidates. As he explores the many infirmities and outrages of the president's opponents and details Obama's many virtues, it's clear that, for the author, the "center" of our politics lies decidedly to the left. This obvious bias impairs his analysis throughout, prompting him too often to offer opinion and speculation as fact. For example, he insists the vitriol directed toward the president exceeds anything in our recent history and claims that the president's contempt for his opponent accounted for his lackluster first debate performance. He goes so far as to wonder if maybe the president threw the debate "because he wanted the game to be a little more challenging?" When he sticks to straight reporting, however, Alter shines. In always fluid, sometimes arresting prose, he tells the inside story of the bartender who surreptitiously taped Romney's infamous 47 percent remark, offers sharp miniportraits of numerous campaign operatives, and brilliantly deconstructs the "Big Data" component of Obama's Chicago headquarters, describing their technological innovations and smooth manipulation of social media that set a new standard for future campaigns. The president's supporters and, really, all political junkies will love this. Republicans, not so much.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Things were not looking good for President Obama at the time of the 2012 election: the economy was still struggling, no one seemed to really understand how Obamacare would work, and the Republicans' number-one objective remained obstructing the president's programs. Even Bill Clinton thought Obama would lose. So what turned it around? In a narrative that is as engaging as it is informative, veteran political writer Alter offers a mix of answers: Republican overreach, too many primaries, demographics, the Obama campaign's smart use of twenty-first century technology, and the unexpected moments that always seem to shake up elections (Clint Eastwood, meet Hurricane Sandy). Oh, and the ability of the Democrats to paint Romney as a one-dimensional rich kid, a position that was cemented by the famous recording of him denigrating 47 percent of the American people. Because Alter has so much to cover here, some of the issues get shorter shrift than others, but all the important points are hit: the introduction of Tea Party politics; the absence of the president's schmooze gene ; campaign trail highs and lows; the debates, especially the first one with Obama MIA; and plenty about both policy and politics, which sets up a solid framework for the dishier parts of the story. (No one seems to like Valerie Jarrett except the Obamas.) Containing analysis as well as reportage and with most of the quotes sourced, this makes for good history as well as a good read.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist