Audiobook15 hours
Collision 2012: Obama vs. Romney and the Future of Elections in America
Written by Dan Balz
Narrated by Jeffrey Kafer
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Four years ago, a bright young presidential candidate named Barack Obama campaigned on a theme of hope and change, and made history. Today, he finds himself in another bitter, divisive presidential race but without the buzzwords. Instead, an embattled president struggles with a dysfunctionally divided Congress, a controversial healthcare bill, a decade-long war, and a stagnant economy.
Obama's Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, former corporate tycoon and former governor of Massachusetts, faces his own controversies in the form of vague policies, fluctuating positions, and questions about his business practices in the private sector. Romney's personal fortune and business background seemed at odds with the Republican base until he named Wisconsin congressman, Tea Party darling, and fiscal conservative Paul Ryan as his running mate.
Using sources deep inside both campaigns and on the campaign trail through primary and battleground states, Washington Post correspondent Dan Balz writes with a keen political mind and a seasoned reporter's ear. He traces the highs and lows of the Obama presidency as well as the ruthless Republican primary as both laid the groundwork for one of the most crucial, contentious elections of our time. Collision 2012 puts the race for the White House in context and explores just what the election means for the future of the democratic process and America.
Obama's Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, former corporate tycoon and former governor of Massachusetts, faces his own controversies in the form of vague policies, fluctuating positions, and questions about his business practices in the private sector. Romney's personal fortune and business background seemed at odds with the Republican base until he named Wisconsin congressman, Tea Party darling, and fiscal conservative Paul Ryan as his running mate.
Using sources deep inside both campaigns and on the campaign trail through primary and battleground states, Washington Post correspondent Dan Balz writes with a keen political mind and a seasoned reporter's ear. He traces the highs and lows of the Obama presidency as well as the ruthless Republican primary as both laid the groundwork for one of the most crucial, contentious elections of our time. Collision 2012 puts the race for the White House in context and explores just what the election means for the future of the democratic process and America.
Related to Collision 2012
Related audiobooks
Boss Rove: Inside Karl Rove's Secret Kingdom of Power Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Personality Wins: Who Will Take the White House and How We Know Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow Did We Get Here?: From Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way to Win: Clinton, Bush, Rove, and How to Take the White House in 2008 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Abuse of Power: The Three-Year Campaign to Impeach Donald Trump Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJimmy Carter and the Birth of the Marathon Media Campaign Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Trump: The Revolt of the Conservative Elites Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Real Romney Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Trump Must Go: The Top 100 Reasons to Dump Trump (and One to Keep Him) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Showdown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTake It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTrump Aftershock: The President's Seismic Impact on Culture and Faith in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Coming of Democracy: Presidential Campaigning in the Age of Jackson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ground War: Courts, Commissions, and the Fight over Partisan Gerrymanders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When the World Seemed New: George H. W. Bush and the End of the Cold War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Will: The Forgotten Choices That Changed Our Republic Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrisis!: When Political Parties Lose the Consent to Rule Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBefore the First Shots Are Fired: How America Can Win or Lose Off the Battlefield Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Rift: Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, and the Broken Friendship That Defined an Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: The White House Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Chief Justice: John Jay and the Struggle of a New Nation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPatriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
United States History For You
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5John Adams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51776 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wright Brothers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Untold History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragonfire: Four Days That (Almost) Changed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for Collision 2012
Rating: 3.74 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
25 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I received my uncorrected proof copy of Collision 2012 through the Goodreads first reads giveaway program. I felt like I had paid less attention to the 2012 election than I should have, and Dan Balz's book certainly remedied any ignorance I was concerned I was harboring.
His arguments are cogent but quite cynical. One of his most interesting ideas about an election that he characterizes, as I read it, as disappointingly stagnant is that the ideas presented by both parties were the most stagnant, unresponsive element of the campaign. I think Balz emphasized too much the increased political polarization of the electorate at the expense of this more compelling idea (in my view).
Balz does do an excellent job of citing and discussing some unique aspects of the 2012 political landscape -- the role of social media, especially the peculiar role of Twitter in public discourse about the debates, and of course the role of SuperPAC funding. His analysis is thorough and far-reaching; the book seems very well-researched as far as I can tell.
While this book may not offer as much behind-the-scenes gossip as some others, I definitely found some interesting tidbits.
Altogether, this is a worthwhile read about an important historical moment in our lives. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Entertaining and illuminating portrait of the tumultuous 2012 race to the White House. The convergence of super PAC funding. social media, and new heights in polling and data analysis forever changed the nature of how Americans select their chief executive.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A fascinating and evenhanded account of the 2012 election.