The Perfect Tie: The True Story of the 2000 Presidential Election

In The Perfect Tie: The True Story of the 2000 Presidential Election, James W. Ceaser and Andrew E. Busch continue their study of national elections and their broader implications for American politics and society. With groundbreaking research of electoral politics and penetrating discussions of divided government, independent candidates, party platforms, realignment theory, the electoral college, and campaign strategies, Ceaser and Busch attempt to make sense of the 2000 presidential election. By separating myth from fact in presidential contests and by emphasizing the significance of frequently overlooked issues, such as foreign policy, this book is essential reading for courses in American Government, Campaigns and Elections, and Presidential Politics, as well as for any American interested in the real and lasting importance of the 2000 elections.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Prologue: Election Eve, 2000 Chapter 2 The Politics of the Perfect Tie Chapter 3 The Invisible Primary: The Marathon Begins Chapter 4 The Party Nomination: The Three-Way Race Chapter 5 The Interregnum: The Four Faces of Al Gore Chapter 6 The Final Election Campaign: Roller Coaster Chapter 7 The Post-election Campaign: Bush versus Gore Chapter 8 Congressional and State Elections Chapter 9 Electoral Reform Chapter 10 Appendix: Presidential Vote by State, 2000

About the Author :
James W. Ceaser is professor of government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia, is author of numerous works including, with Andrew Busch, Upside Down and Inside Out: The 1992 Elections and American Politics and Losing To Win: The 1996 Elections and American Politics (Rowman & Littlefield). Andrew E. Busch is associate professor of political science at the University of Denver.

Review :
The Lewis and Clark of American elections have returned with the first thoughtful account of the 2000 contest, and their reporting is eye-opening, indeed indispensable. If you want to understand why we had this razor-thin election for president in 2000, this is the book for you. Well-written, serious, yet lively in tone, it tells a fascinating story of a national coin toss that came up neither heads nor tails, but instead showed a coin standing on edge—keeping the nation on edge with it for many weeks after election day. The extraordinary election of 2000 deserves a first-rate narrative and analysis. This is it. There won't be a better one. Ceaser and Busch have written another clever and insightful account of a national election. The Perfect Tie offers a perfect road map for investigating the closest and most controversial contest in more than a century. James Ceaser and Andrew Busch provide the first comprehensive scholarly account of the epic 2000 election. Drawing on their own rich knowledge of political history and the full resources of current political science, they achieve insights and analysis that are deep as well as broad. In clear and literate style, they thoughtfully examine both process and substance from pre-primary preparations to post-election proposals for electoral reform. Once again, Ceaser and Busch come through with a post-election analysis that is both timely and scholarly. For anyone interested in a thoughtful and engaging review of the events of the historic 2000 elections, this is the perfect book. After pop analysis and pundit pontifications, journalistic rehashing and insider stories, we now have the first, and very first-rate, effort by scholars to study seriously the 2000 presidential election. Ceaser and Busch do an excellent job of placing the 2000 election into a broader context of elections and politics in the United States over time. An intelligent and lively analysis of the lengthy pre-election campaign, to the confluence of several extraordinary events. The Perfect Tie is well-written and engaging and the authors have fun with terms and events. This is a serious and important book. A book rich in analysis and detail, well-written. [A] detailed, scholarly and timely account of the highly controversial election. . . . Informative, interesting, and accessible.