Grass Roots; One Year in the Life of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary

New York, New York: Viking Penguin, 1991. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Good/Good. [12], 436 pages. The book contains a Prologue, Epilogue, Acknowledgments, and an Index. Ink marks noted on a few pages. DJ has some edgewear and soiling. This book focuses on the individual characters who are at the heart of the American political process. Duncan's look at one community yields special insights into the process and the people. In 1952, New Hampshire introduced its first-in-the-nation primary, and since then and the time of this publication, no one has won the presidency without winning that contest. From January 1987 to November 1988, Dayton Duncan tracked the tireless efforts of more than a dozen volunteers who were at the heart of the 1988 Presidential Primaries in Cheshire county, New Hampshire. Their stories form both a compelling portrait of the 1988 race, and a guidebook for understanding the process by which we select our presidential candidates. Duncan served as Chief of Staff to New Hampshire governor Hugh Gallen until the latter's death in 1982. In 1984, he served as deputy national press secretary for Walter Mondale's presidential campaign, and in 1988, as national press secretary for Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign. In 1998, President Clinton appointed him chair of the American Heritage Rivers Advisory Committee and Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt appointed him as a director of the National Park Foundation. Derived from a Kirkus review: In simple, clear prose, Duncan, national press secretary for Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign and author of Out West: An American Journey, describes one year in the life of the New Hampshire primary. Duncan focuses on the grass-roots volunteers, the men and women who become acquainted with the candidates as individuals, not just as political figures. These volunteers, he finds, are a human link between their voting family members, friends, and neighbors and the candidates. "For a brief moment," Duncan says, "[the volunteers] are the pivot point of democracy." The scenes Duncan describes to make his point are compelling and convincing: arch-conservative Al Rubega seated on a dais between George Bush and Pat Robertson at the Gun Owners of New Hampshire Presidential Forum; Shelley Nelkens, mother and homemaker, angering Gary Hart when she accuses him of not doing enough to ban the whole nuclear energy industry. Just as interesting are the very real, very personal commitments the volunteers make to their candidates. Andi Johnson worked for Hart in 1984 and then again in 1988. When Hart dropped out after the Donna Rice fiasco, Andi went to work for Joe Biden. When Biden dropped out, Andi volunteered for the Paul Simon campaign. Hart reentered the race, but Andi dug in her heels and would not abandon her new candidate, even at the cost of losing her boyfriend, a Hart loyalist. Surprising, refreshing, interesting: it's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington played out in real life.