War Without Bloodshed

by Eleanor Clift, Tom Brazaitis

Overview

Americans equate Washington, D.C. with politics. But the underpinnings of government remain intangible — complicated & tangled networks fleetingly exposed during election years. Clift & Brazaitis uncover the interlocking relationships on Capitol Hill. First they note the key positions: the pollster, lobbyist, committee chairman, opposition leader, member of Congress, chief of staff. The authors offer anecdotes about players from opposite sides who, perceived by the public as enemies, meet secretly. They reveal the deft maneuverings that fuel the aspirations of the politicians &, in turn, somehow make our democracy work. Photos.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780684833460
Publisher:	Scribner
Publication date:	11/05/1997
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.44(h) x 1.00(d)

Editorial Reviews

The authors are Washington insiders: Clift, contributing editor to Newsweek and a McLaughlin Group weekly TV panelist, and her husband, Brazaitis, Cleveland Plain Dealer Washington bureau chief. To illustrate how real power in Washington is wielded, they offer personal profiles, by turns trenchant and predictable, of eight powerful individuals. "[Newt] Gingrich could not escape his past. The ruthless way that he had achieved his position would forever color the way he was perceived," they write of the House Speaker. "A streak of anarchy runs through [Daniel Patrick] Moynihan's dark Irish soul. He wants to tear down everything he has built" is their take on the Democratic senator from New York and former Senate Finance Committee chairman. Clinton's defeated health-care plan shadows the profiles of hospital industry lobbyist Michael Bromberg and independent insurance agents' lobbyist Paul Equale, who helped defeat the plan, and presidential pollster Stanley Greenberg, who urged the embattled White House to give up on health care and overhaul welfare instead. Also profiled are pollster Frank Luntz, California Congresswoman Maxine Waters and ex-Democrat Sheila Burke, now Senator Bob Dole's chief of staff. An appendix details political action committee contributions to candidates and predicts that, with these committees shifting most of their support to Republicans, the Democrats will be hard-pressed to regain a majority. Photos. Author tour. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Well-known journalists Clift (Newsweek) and Brazaitis (Cleveland Plain Dealer) modeled the format of their book after George Will's Men at Work (LJ 2/15/90), the best-selling book about baseball. As in Will's book, the authors profile key "players" in the game; this time, though, the game is politics and the players are pollsters, lobbyists, a party chair, the House speaker, a congressional representative, and a senator's chief of staff. Following these participants from the abortive attempts at healthcare reform early in the Clinton administration through the GOP resurgence of 1994, the authors provide an interesting insiders' look at the way things get done, or don't get done, in politics today. A big first printing, authors' tour, and the likelihood of media coverage may spur patron requests, even about a topic most people profess to hate. Recommended for larger public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub alert, LJ 2/1/96.]Pamela R. Daubenspeck, Warren-Trumbull Cty. P.L., Ohio

Library Journal

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