The Making of the Presidential Candidates 2004

The Making of the Presidential Candidates 2004 provides a broad overview of the presidential nomination process through a detailed examination of its most significant components: money and media, polls and interest groups, Iowa and New Hampshire, the invisible primary and the formal primary calendar. Like the two previous volumes in this series (In Pursuit of the White House and In Pursuit of the White House 2000), this book showcases some of the most interesting work now being done on the politics of presidential selection. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the presidential nomination process or just to follow the 2004 campaign.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 I The Front-Loading Problem Chapter 2 II Financing Presidential Nomination under the BCRA Chapter 3 III The Basic Dynamics of the Contemporary Nomination Process: An Expanded View Chapter 4 IV How Incumbent Presidents Run for Reelection Chapter 5 V From Resistance to Adaptation: Organized Labor Reacts to a Changing Nomination Process Chapter 6 VI The Net and the Nomination Chapter 7 VII Only a Lunatic Would Do This Kind of Work: A Journalist's Perspective on the Perspective of Journalists Chapter 8 VIII The Perils of Polling in New Hampshire Chapter 9 IX The Emerging International Trend toward Open Presidential Primaries: The American Presidential Nomination Process in Comparative Perspective

About the Author :
William G. Mayer is associate professor of political science at Northeastern University.

Review :
This timely book . . . is recommended for academic and larger public libraries. Bill Mayer and his able collaborators have provided an insightful road map for the 2004 election. If the process by which America elects its presidents seems confusing, this book will help demystify things. It is both perceptive and readable, with good historical perspective. First rate in all respects. Fresh and thoughtful. . . . Anyone seriously interested in learning about U.S. presidential nominations, whether scholar or undergraduate, would do well to start with this book. This book confirms William G. Mayer's standing as the nation's leading academic authority on the path to power that we know as the presidential nomination process. As in each of the previous volumes in this indispensable series, Mayer has assembled a set of uniquely insightful essays. Together, they provide an unparalled overview of the process as a whole and the best available roadmap for how the nominating struggle is likely to unfold for 2004. Should be required reading at every school that purports to teach journalism. For specialists in political science and presidential elections, these articles can provide helpful context for understanding how candidates campaign and the institutional obstacles that they encounter in so doing. A fine collection of essays that provides solid background from a variety of perspectives on the presidential selection process as well as good explanation concerning how the process is changing. The volume provides both good historical background into the process and analysis of how the 2004 process may differ. The authors generally write clearly and avoid jargon. Recommended. This book is well-edited, with each chapter clearly written and focused on an important dimension of the campaign. Accessible equally to scholars and practitioners, readers need look no further than this comprehensive book for the most up-to-date information and analysis about contemporary presidential nomination politics in America. The Making of the Presidential Candidates 2004 provides a valuable overview of the current state of the American nomination process. The Making of Presidential Candidates 2004 provides a valuable overview of the current state of the American nomination process.