Rating: 
Summary: A Real Eye Opener
Review: The question to ask this election season is not, repeat, not: "Which candidate will turn away from special interests?" As meticulously documented by the Center for Public Integrity in "The Buying of the President 2004", every candidate -- from richest to poorest, from the incumbent (Bush) down to the underfunded (Kucinich, Sharpton, etc.) -- gets their money from some political action committee (PAC) or other. The back cover blurb for BOP04 asks four questions about where candidates get their funding: the answer to two of those questions is "Joe Lieberman"."Buying of the President 2004" runs nearly 500 pages, and I can honestly say I learned something new on nearly every page. The book begins with a series of three loosely connected essays about the state of the American electoral system, surveying the wreckage of the 2000 campaign (from the Bush teams coyly racist ploy to subvert John McCain in Arizona), to the 2000 election aftermath (you'll be surprised at the extent of voter disfranchisement in Florida), to which major corporations fund which parties. Most shocking is that News Corp -- the people who brought you Fox News Channel -- rank among the Democrats' top 50 donors over the last quarter century, but not among the Republicans'. BOP04 names the corporate names, and provides the dollar figures. The second portion of the book is the political expose on President Bush -- from his New England birth and sheltered Yale education, to his disastrous years as an oil magnate, to his riding ownership of the Texas Rangers all the way to the Governor's mansion and beyond. His presidency is coolly dissected, contribution by contribution, dollar by dollar. You will feel positively unclean after reading these chapters, especially if you voted for him based solely on his debate platform and his "compassionate conservative" campaign talk. But, BOP04 is not merely partisan slash work. The ten declared Democratic presidential candidates for 2004 are also taken apart by the same dispassionate, and at times sarcastic, eye. The most interesting chapters detail Dennis Kucinich's rocky political career, and Al Sharpton's bizarre financial dealings. The chapters on John Kerry and John Edwards are most significant now. Neither candidate is revealed to be special-interest-free. These chapters come highly recommended, especially as a lot of this information is still not well known out on the stumps. The book's conclusion is grim. The writing begins to get carried away, especially with the reference to Todd Beamer on the final two pages. They'd already made their point quite clearly through the previous 500 pages. It's hard to wrestle with the facts and dollar signs presented in this book. The real question of the election season then, is not "Is my candidate truly indepedent?", but rather, "Am I comfortable with giving my candidate's financial backers access to the Oval Office?" That may not be what the Founding Fathers envisioned (or maybe it is). Reading BOP04 did not cause me to change the lever I will pull in my party's primary (or in November), but I do feel a much more informed citizen for having read it.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic look at the candidates and fund raising.
Review: This book contains enough history about each candidate to make anyone feel confident with their vote. And, unlike almost any other political book I've read, it is suprisingly non-partisan. Furthermore, it really opens you eyes on the political fund raising system and what the candidates actually have to do before the become president.
After reading this book, it will become much easier to see through the candidates rhetoric, and this book or one like it should be a pre-requisite before voting.
Rating:
Summary: The Buying of the President 2004
Review: This book is great! Charles Lewis, does an excellent job on the reporting, and stays unbiased and neutral. It should be a required read for anyone who votes. I urge everyone to read the book and stay just as neutral as Charles Lewis. It does not read as "Republican" or "Democrat." Know what is really going on.....but beware, the infomation could be hazerdous to your Dubaism.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST read for every voter!
Review: This book is THE benchmark for investigative journalism done by the people at www.publicintegrity.org. An honest, fair and balanced presentation of the facts surrounding the Democratic candidates for President 2004 (which has since been whitled down to Kerry) and President Gearge W. Bush. You simply cannot say you are an informed voter until you read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Strongly reccomended
Review: This is a must read. I found it to be fair and factual.
Rating:
Summary: You wont get this info on your evening news
Review: We are brought up to believe that our vote really counts. We think that we are voting for the honest politician. We thought that our candidate hadn't sold his soul to a corporation or political action committee.
Here the author describes a system that cannot operate without money from various sources that want to influence public policy. In order to be a "public servant" it is necessary to accept money from donors. Of course there is no question of getting something for nothing, there has to be some kind of pay back. This books provides you with the facts.
Unfortunately, the only choice left in this democracy is choosing the candidate that represents the lesser evil.
Rating:
Summary: You wont get this info on your evening news
Review: We are brought up to believe that our vote really counts. We think that we are voting for the honest politician. We thought that our candidate hadn't sold his soul to a corporation or political action committee.
Here the author describes a system that cannot operate without money from various sources that want to influence public policy. In order to be a "public servant" it is necessary to accept money from donors. Of course there is no question of getting something for nothing, there has to be some kind of pay back. This books provides you with the facts.
Unfortunately, the only choice left in this democracy is choosing the candidate that represents the lesser evil.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh Really?
Review: Why do people fall for this tired story? Surprise! The power process is in the hands of the powerful. This is as old as time. Can it be news to anyone? Now if Mr. Lewis wanted to provide some slightly more interesting/dangerous information he would take a look at how law makers (house and senate) are bought. Of course they would shot him from his horse. Oh well, guess he has been bought.
Rating:
Summary: Oh Really?
Review: Why do people fall for this tired story? Surprise! The power process is in the hands of the powerful. This is as old as time. Can it be news to anyone? Now if Mr. Lewis wanted to provide some slightly more interesting/dangerous information he would take a look at how law makers (house and senate) are bought. Of course they would shot him from his horse. Oh well, guess he has been bought.
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