Down & Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency

...only a constant stream of idiotic decisions, crazy manouvers, and a bunch of stupid Supreme Court justices.Overall, a very fascinating book! Personally, as a not-at-all cringing Gore supporter, I had so many conspiracy theories running through my head once the final Supreme Court decision was announced, that I felt as if I had joined the crazy Kennedy and UFO conspiracy cultists. Luckily, this book provided a more rational argument for the continual series of idiocies that occurred on a daily basis with the Florida decision.What I appreciated most about this book is that the author has no real agenda to push, as he detests both candidates equally. The contempt he expresses regularly for both Bush and Gore comes through loud and clear. What remains is a scathing view of just how easily democracy can be subverted, and how little Americans really care about who governs us. Who stole the election? Not Bush. Not Gore. Not lobbyists, and not the Supreme Court. It's all of us Americans who did not stand up and demand justice and the truth...

Tapper is one hell of a writer - I can't believe a book about politics would have me so engrossed. His witty style of writing makes the book very hard to turn down. There's one crazy event after another. As a resident of south Florida, I can attest to the accuracy with which Mr. Tapper describes the local political environment. It is a mess down here.

Jake Tapper takes the reader behind the scenes to reveal Election 2000's dirtiest secrets. "Down and Dirty" personalizes the Florida showdown, showing the worst of both sides in a way that should scare the American people into taking more responsibility for choosing our elected leaders. Tapper exposes Jeb Bush's intricate formula for dominating the Florida Republican party, in which he left few fingerprints behind while helping to ultimately deliver a Bush win in the "Jeberglades" and ensure his brother's victory. He illustrates the desperation of the Gore team, when they finally realized their legal argument was fundamentally flawed. From Gore calling top TV producers to sell his own conspiracy theory to a top Gore aide spreading salacious rumors about Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris, Tapper lets exposes the dirty tricks in politics that no one likes to talk about.Like no other election book on the market, Tapper personalizes the Florida drama, introducing us to the players with all of their human flaws and insecurities. Most important, he shows us how a single person can impact a nation. With the same chatty, irreverent tone that singled out his election coverage on Salon.com, Tapper hones in on the greatest evil of modern politics -- a voting public that just doesn't give a damn. "Down and Dirty" shows the American people that they need to wake up and pay attention to who their leaders are. Shouldn't we expect more from our politicians than legal antics and dirty tricks?

Although I am not a political junky, and at times get fed up with much of the US's political scene, a friend recommended this book to me (she read it on another friend's advice) and I was pleasently surpirsed, to the extent that I chose to write this review (which I've never done before).This book is clearly clever, and more importantly, is a very good read that lets the reader know some of the dirty things that went down in Florida in an extremely interesting way. Much of the media seems quite dry to me these days, so it was nice to get a unique persepctive on all the Florida madness.Two thumbs up for Down and Dirty and my best to to the author, Jake Tapper, on a job well done.p.s. I even plan on starting to read Tapper's stuff on salon.com after reading this book.

"Down and Dirty" is a fantastic book on the chaotic, raucous post-presidential election scramble in Florida. Tapper uses his sharp political skills to weed through the boring election crap and create a very readable, funny behind-the-scenes account of the Bush and Gore camps yelling, screaming and plotting against each other. The hardball tactics used by each side to claim the White House sheds light on both candidates, their duplicity and motives. Nowhere else will you find such a candid portrayal of our current president, George W., and his nemisis, Al Gore, as they get 'down and dirty' in the fight for their political lives. In addition, Tapper's descriptions of the canvassing boards and the confusion that consumes the local yokles as they muddle through dimpled, pregnant and hanging chads is written with exacting wit and wry humor. The author strips away the varnish and veneer found in other stodgy accounts written by teams of reporters and tells it like it is. If you read only one book on the post-election Florida mess, this is it.