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Sneaking Into the Flying Circus: How the Media Turn Our Presidential Campaigns into Freak Shows
Alexandra Pelosi, creator of the Emmy award-winning film Journeys with George and of Diary of a Political Tourist , makes her literary debut with an intimate look at the frenzied and grueling underbelly of presidential campaigning and the puppet role of the media. Pelosi went along on the campaign trail in order to, as she puts it, "document the absurd hazing rituals that our presidential candidates have to go through." With this savvy, well-connected, and fearless guide, it's a rollicking, breakneck journey unlike any other.
Pelosi's one-on-one time with the 2004 presidential candidates affords an up-close perspective on the highs and lows of campaign the genuine thrill of seeing America, the unrelenting grind of endless campaign stops, the hope and heartache of poll results. While the candidates try to stick to tightly constructed scripts, Pelosi's nonnetwork angle makes for revealing portraits of the men who wanted to be president.
But even more, Pelosi's approach reveals fundamental flaws in the media's election coverage. A former member of the campaign press corps, she turns her gimlet eye on the media, which are busy enacting their own election-time "Every election cycle journalists defy the theory of evolution, living sequestered on a bus, with no sleep, few showers, and tons of junk food, going town-to-town listening to the same speech over and over. You're stuck in this dysfunctional relationship between the news organization that has you there to do their bidding and the campaign that is trying to co-opt you."
And herein lies Pelosi's driving politicians and journalists don't trust each other, and so, in election coverage and in politics in general, the press is utterly hamstrung. Since the candidates never say anything unscripted and the journalists have to make nice in order to maintain access, modern presidential campaigns have become little more than media events. Politicians and journalists alike are going through the motions, and the voters have no idea who the candidates really are.
But Pelosi says the public are not "Everyone knows that the media do not give them an accurate portrait of a person." No wonder people are apathetic. But whose fault is it? Are the candidates driving people away from the political process, or are the media keeping them out?
Probing, insightful, and lively, Sneaking into the Flying Circus exposes the election process for what it a three-ring gala production that comes to town every four years. As a nation and an audience, we're often willing to suspend disbelief -- and we often can't resist when the clowns try to get us in on the act. It is, after all, the greatest show on earth.
Pelosi's one-on-one time with the 2004 presidential candidates affords an up-close perspective on the highs and lows of campaign the genuine thrill of seeing America, the unrelenting grind of endless campaign stops, the hope and heartache of poll results. While the candidates try to stick to tightly constructed scripts, Pelosi's nonnetwork angle makes for revealing portraits of the men who wanted to be president.
But even more, Pelosi's approach reveals fundamental flaws in the media's election coverage. A former member of the campaign press corps, she turns her gimlet eye on the media, which are busy enacting their own election-time "Every election cycle journalists defy the theory of evolution, living sequestered on a bus, with no sleep, few showers, and tons of junk food, going town-to-town listening to the same speech over and over. You're stuck in this dysfunctional relationship between the news organization that has you there to do their bidding and the campaign that is trying to co-opt you."
And herein lies Pelosi's driving politicians and journalists don't trust each other, and so, in election coverage and in politics in general, the press is utterly hamstrung. Since the candidates never say anything unscripted and the journalists have to make nice in order to maintain access, modern presidential campaigns have become little more than media events. Politicians and journalists alike are going through the motions, and the voters have no idea who the candidates really are.
But Pelosi says the public are not "Everyone knows that the media do not give them an accurate portrait of a person." No wonder people are apathetic. But whose fault is it? Are the candidates driving people away from the political process, or are the media keeping them out?
Probing, insightful, and lively, Sneaking into the Flying Circus exposes the election process for what it a three-ring gala production that comes to town every four years. As a nation and an audience, we're often willing to suspend disbelief -- and we often can't resist when the clowns try to get us in on the act. It is, after all, the greatest show on earth.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
2 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Alexandra Pelosi
2 books2 followersAlexandra C. Pelosi is a journalist, documentary filmmaker, and writer based in New York City. She is the daughter of Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Paul Pelosi. Like her mother, Pelosi is a Democrat.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 6, 2011
A funny, honest, unvarnished glimpse of the strange relationship between presidential candidates and the media they both love to hate and need in order to have a chance at success. Yes, the author is Nancy Pelosi's daughter, but rather than taint her writing I believe the living so close to this process all her life has exposed her to enough politicos that she can speak plainly about them. This book looks at the 2004 election, the last time there was an unchallenged incumbant and a whole string of primary candidates vying for thenomination on the other side. The parties are just switched in 2012. I wish the author had more books out there. I really like her style.
February 21, 2007
The Boys on the Bus for 2004? Not quite, but the same idea. Pelosi does a pretty damn good job documenting the insanity of the 2004 presidential primary. Read it if you're a political nerd or otherwise interested in finding out what life on a modern presidential campaign consists of, and how these candidates of ours effectively morph into carictures over time.
January 21, 2012
The author does a good job of letting you know what life is really like on the campaign trail (long periods of travel, lack of access to the candidates, competition between media, constant news cycle, etc.). I would like to watch her political movies as a result of reading this book.
June 22, 2010
Interesting - may assign to a class someday.
February 5, 2009
This book is so funny, if you like politics and humor - pick it up.
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July 30, 2011Typical campaign book, great fun... Pelosi has quite the sense of humor.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews