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Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House
The authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller Shattered provide a revelatory, inside look at the Biden, Harris, and Trump camps during the 2024 battle for the White House, arguably the most consequential contest in American history.
The ride was so wild that it forced a sitting president to drop his re-election bid, a once and future president to survive felony convictions and a would-be assassin’s bullet, and a vice president, unexpectedly thrust into the arena, to mount an unprecedented 107-day campaign to lead the free world.
Fight is the backstage story of bloodsport politics in its rawest form—the clawing, backstabbing, and rabble-rousing that drove Donald Trump into the White House and Democrats into the wilderness. At every turn, the combatants went for the jugular, whether they were facing down rivals in the other party or their own.
Bestselling authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes give readers their first graphic view of the characters, their motivations, and their innermost thoughts as they battled to claim the ultimate prize and define a political era. Based on real-time interviews with more than 150 insiders—from the Trump, Harris, and Biden inner circles, as well as party leaders and operatives—Fight delivers the vivid and stunning tale of an election unlike any other.
In the end, Trump overcame voters’ concerns about his personal flaws by tapping into a deep vein of dissatisfaction with the direction of the country. At the same time, Democrats struggled to connect with an electorate that felt gaslit by Biden’s insistence that he had delivered economic prosperity—and his pledge to be a “bridge” president. He tore his party asunder, leaving destroyed personal relationships in his wake, as he clung to power. And when he gave it up, he kneecapped Harris by demanding unprecedented loyalty from her.
As Allen and Parnes have done in the #1 New York Times bestseller Shattered and Lucky, they provide readers with a skeleton key to the rooms where it all happened, revealing a story more shocking than previously reported.
The ride was so wild that it forced a sitting president to drop his re-election bid, a once and future president to survive felony convictions and a would-be assassin’s bullet, and a vice president, unexpectedly thrust into the arena, to mount an unprecedented 107-day campaign to lead the free world.
Fight is the backstage story of bloodsport politics in its rawest form—the clawing, backstabbing, and rabble-rousing that drove Donald Trump into the White House and Democrats into the wilderness. At every turn, the combatants went for the jugular, whether they were facing down rivals in the other party or their own.
Bestselling authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes give readers their first graphic view of the characters, their motivations, and their innermost thoughts as they battled to claim the ultimate prize and define a political era. Based on real-time interviews with more than 150 insiders—from the Trump, Harris, and Biden inner circles, as well as party leaders and operatives—Fight delivers the vivid and stunning tale of an election unlike any other.
In the end, Trump overcame voters’ concerns about his personal flaws by tapping into a deep vein of dissatisfaction with the direction of the country. At the same time, Democrats struggled to connect with an electorate that felt gaslit by Biden’s insistence that he had delivered economic prosperity—and his pledge to be a “bridge” president. He tore his party asunder, leaving destroyed personal relationships in his wake, as he clung to power. And when he gave it up, he kneecapped Harris by demanding unprecedented loyalty from her.
As Allen and Parnes have done in the #1 New York Times bestseller Shattered and Lucky, they provide readers with a skeleton key to the rooms where it all happened, revealing a story more shocking than previously reported.
326 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2025
1278 people are currently reading
4075 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Allen
4 books103 followersJonathan Allen has covered national politics for Politico, Bloomberg, and Vox. He is the head of community and content for Sidewire, and writes a weekly political column for Roll Call.
Photograph by Stuart Hovell.
Photograph by Stuart Hovell.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 472 reviews
May 17, 2025
A few things before I start my review.
If you are a supporter of Donald Trump, you probably don’t want to read my review.
If you are a supporter of Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi and bristle at any criticism of them, you probably do not want to read this review.
If you hate long reviews, and can barely get through them, you probably do not want to read this review.
That is because this might be my longest review ever, and I’ve written thousands of reviews.
And finally – if you’re just not into politics, you may want to skip this review because this review is all about politics.
This was a must read for me. I’m a political junkie, I am a rabid Biden fan. I supported Kamala Harris, but I hate with a passion, the Democratic machine.
What do I mean by that? I’m talking about the machine that demands every speck of humanity and humility be wiped away from potential candidates.
I’m talking about the nameless, faceless LA-machine! This machine insists on every word out of any candidate’s mouth be first and foremost focus group tested.
How to lose an election in 10 weeks.
This book was superbly written. But oh how I struggled to figure out what to rate it.
This is because, although I really did like the formatting in many ways, there were a few things that I simply could not abide.
Just to give you an example of where my head was at – I considered every single wheel on the merry-go-round. I consider every single rating. I considered giving this extremely well written book a one. I also considered giving it a five.
This is how confused the book made me.
OK so this book tells all about the 2024 election. It goes behind the scenes and shows us how Joe Biden was pushed out of the race, how people reacted to his devastating debate with Donald Trump, how Kamala Harris became the anointed candidate, and how she lost, and Donald Trump won the election.
It ain’t pretty.
So I ruminated on how to write this review. Should I list the good things first or the bad?
I decided I would do a little of both. I decided I would do sort of a mix and match if you will.
First, one good aspect of the book is, that it is riveting and I couldn’t put it down. I read it in one sitting.
The authors wrote it, like it’s a movie or a play or a fiction novel. The format was fast paced, detailed, descriptive and breathtaking, and shows the lethal aspect of politics, which is, of course, the meanness, the viciousness, and just plain fuckery as the authors, quaintly and charmingly call it.
Now — here’s a bad thing, something I didn’t like. And I’m going to say right now this is what caused me to almost give only one star.
I do not blame Joe Biden for anything that happened. I know a lot of people do. I’m aware of that.
I’m a political writer myself. I adore Joe Biden. I have always been a fan of his.
I can say honestly that some Democrats forcing him out of the race, rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Many were bewildered and scared and angry. Of course people came around and supported Kamala and I did like the way Kamala Harris was portrayed here.
I did not like -- repeat -- did not like the way Joe Biden was portrayed in this book.
I don’t know if it was a conscious decision or not, but the writers really really didn’t seem to like Biden at all. They along with many people, seem to blame him for everything that went wrong, and I did not like the pick, pick, picking at him. It was relentless.
Even when Democrats ran late at the Democratic National Convention, even then, Biden was depicted as sullen and non-communicative, with his speech being labeled as angry only that is not the way I saw it, and I can confidently say many, MANY did not see it that way either.
I know many wept at Biden speech that night I know many who were enraged that he came on so late. I know many who are baffled and bewildered by the lack of respect or honor that many Democrats have refused to give him and wonder -- why?
I can say this. Very few people in the position of ultimate power would be humanly capable of judging themselves, and coming to a conclusion of whether they were competent to go on in the presidency. Does one honestly believe that had it been Donald Trump the New York Times was writing hit pieces on every half hour, that he would’ve graciously exited the race?
What about Obama? What if he, during his second term had become a little less cognitively aware? Do you think Obama would’ve given a speech and resigned the presidency immediately?
Joe Biden has been through more in his life than most people.
Indeed , sometimes I marvel at the man’s strength. In 2020 when he won the presidency, it was against many odds , and it was despite many of the same people who forced him out of this race, not wanting him to be the candidate back then either.
I’ve read numerous books on the lack of respect Obama has shown him. Now I must preface this by saying I don’t know whether such talk is true. Who can know? What I do know is there’s been enough talk and enough articles and books written about it, that I would say some of it probably is accurate. And it makes me wonder.
I feel that Biden was never ever given the respect he deserves way, WAY before that ultimate debate with Trump.
Obama passed him by for Hillary, then when he was fighting for the nomination in 2020 many did not take him seriously and now this.
For somebody like Nancy Pelosi , she should thank her lucky stars Biden did run in 2020. As of now Biden stands as the only Democrat or Republican, who has ever beaten Donald Trump. Why doesn’t that count for anything?
Add to that the indignity of what happened the night he was to speak and did speak at the Democratic national convention. You better believe he should’ve gone on at the time he asked for.
The other thing, the writers didn't mention was the frenzied outpouring of love that the audience gave Biden when he eventually did speak.
I mean, it SEEMS that the writers have a certain distaste for him.
Now maybe I’m wrong, but I'd have liked to read about the love so many have for President Biden. The chant of that night was — thank you Biden.
Nobody , absolutely nobody that I spoke with thought Biden sounded angry that night.
So I was very turned off by that, and I really contemplated giving this a one star and savaging in my review, the treatment of Biden, but you know what?
The book was really well written. (Now we're back to the good again!). It’s rare that one can sit down and read a book cover to cover .
The writers provide very sharp analysis of why Donald Trump won and why Kamala Harris lost.
One thing I could not, and still can't comprehend, is why Tim Walz was sidelined. His '"weird" comment elicited a huge response. HE elicited a huge response. That debate with Vance was utterly devoid of any degree of reality. Did the MACHINE, tell Walz to tone it down? To be NICE, and take it easy on Vance? If so, they missed a major opportunity, which is of course not surprising. The machine sometimes seems like it exists to purely screw things up bigly. I don't blame Walz. He was the right VP candidate, who seemed -- muzzled and almost discarded.
The writers were FANTASTIC at showing that machine -- and the bedlam behind the scenes.
They were great at showing why some voters turned away from Harris.
But in my view, they left one major reason out.
Before I get into what that thing is, may I say that I also resented how Donald Trump was portrayed?
Very little of the book was devoted to his insanity. But I think the final straw for me was when he was described as being gentle.
GENTLE????!!!!
Now, perhaps somebody saw him as gentle. In the chapter I am talking about, without giving too much away, gentle was included as a thought by Someone, that when he wanted to be, he could sound gentle .
The authors did interview a lot of people, so who knows? But I really resented that Biden was depicted as some kind of egomaniacal brat, while the word gentle was applied to Donald Trump. I mean you can think a lot of Ways to describe Trump, but I don’t think many would refer to him as— gentle????!!
Now -- getting back to what was left out -- and this is just my opinion.
There is another reason Kamala lost. I don’t like to say it. I really don’t like to say it because I wish so very deeply that it wasn’t true.
She is a woman.
Of course, you have to factor in that. She’s also a black woman.
Despite extreme court justices patronizingly proclaiming, that racism is over, that is poppycock.
Racism is alive and well and living in all 50 states, Washington DC and the United States territories.
It’s not going anywhere.
Would Harris have won if she were a man? Would Josh Shapiro have won ? Would Mark Kelly have won ?
Maybe.
There’s no way of knowing that. We have no sliding doors into the past. There is no way to examine alternate theories in that respect.
But there is no doubt that there is a group of voters who did not, and would not vote for a woman – ANY woman.
Just like they didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton.
And some of them are our fellow women.
The visceral dislike of women is still present everywhere in human nature, including politics. Also, including in pop culture.
If you doubt this, think about the Me Too movement, and the backlash.
Think about Amber Heard. Think about Blake lively. Think about Angelina Jolie.
All of them have made certain accusations against men. All of them have been humiliated, name- called, shamed, scoffed at, laughed at and derided.
When people who do this kind of thing and engage in this kind of behavior, are confronted , they always have excuses ready.
Here is a bit of what they say:
Amber Heard was to blame but I wouldn’t say that about another kind of women!
Blake Lively is to blame. I wouldn’t say that about another kind of women, they claim.
Angelina Jolie is a bully. But I don’t hate women! I wouldn’t say that about another kind of women they claim.
I couldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton, but I’d vote for another kind of woman they claim
Well, Kamala Harris wasn’t a very good candidate. But I’d vote for another kind of women they claim.
No, they wouldn’t. No they would not.
These excuses -- kind of on repeat, aren't they?
I am going to conclude this review now. It was a tough read. The whole campaign season in 2024 was very difficult. It’s going to be a difficult few years.
I thank President Biden for his service, and I thank Kamala Harris for her joy.
And I thank the writers for giving me an incredible night of reading.
I wish I could thank the voters for voting for the first woman president, but sadly , as these writers , so eloquently explain , that’s far from what happened.
If you are a supporter of Donald Trump, you probably don’t want to read my review.
If you are a supporter of Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi and bristle at any criticism of them, you probably do not want to read this review.
If you hate long reviews, and can barely get through them, you probably do not want to read this review.
That is because this might be my longest review ever, and I’ve written thousands of reviews.
And finally – if you’re just not into politics, you may want to skip this review because this review is all about politics.
This was a must read for me. I’m a political junkie, I am a rabid Biden fan. I supported Kamala Harris, but I hate with a passion, the Democratic machine.
What do I mean by that? I’m talking about the machine that demands every speck of humanity and humility be wiped away from potential candidates.
I’m talking about the nameless, faceless LA-machine! This machine insists on every word out of any candidate’s mouth be first and foremost focus group tested.
How to lose an election in 10 weeks.
This book was superbly written. But oh how I struggled to figure out what to rate it.
This is because, although I really did like the formatting in many ways, there were a few things that I simply could not abide.
Just to give you an example of where my head was at – I considered every single wheel on the merry-go-round. I consider every single rating. I considered giving this extremely well written book a one. I also considered giving it a five.
This is how confused the book made me.
OK so this book tells all about the 2024 election. It goes behind the scenes and shows us how Joe Biden was pushed out of the race, how people reacted to his devastating debate with Donald Trump, how Kamala Harris became the anointed candidate, and how she lost, and Donald Trump won the election.
It ain’t pretty.
So I ruminated on how to write this review. Should I list the good things first or the bad?
I decided I would do a little of both. I decided I would do sort of a mix and match if you will.
First, one good aspect of the book is, that it is riveting and I couldn’t put it down. I read it in one sitting.
The authors wrote it, like it’s a movie or a play or a fiction novel. The format was fast paced, detailed, descriptive and breathtaking, and shows the lethal aspect of politics, which is, of course, the meanness, the viciousness, and just plain fuckery as the authors, quaintly and charmingly call it.
Now — here’s a bad thing, something I didn’t like. And I’m going to say right now this is what caused me to almost give only one star.
I do not blame Joe Biden for anything that happened. I know a lot of people do. I’m aware of that.
I’m a political writer myself. I adore Joe Biden. I have always been a fan of his.
I can say honestly that some Democrats forcing him out of the race, rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Many were bewildered and scared and angry. Of course people came around and supported Kamala and I did like the way Kamala Harris was portrayed here.
I did not like -- repeat -- did not like the way Joe Biden was portrayed in this book.
I don’t know if it was a conscious decision or not, but the writers really really didn’t seem to like Biden at all. They along with many people, seem to blame him for everything that went wrong, and I did not like the pick, pick, picking at him. It was relentless.
Even when Democrats ran late at the Democratic National Convention, even then, Biden was depicted as sullen and non-communicative, with his speech being labeled as angry only that is not the way I saw it, and I can confidently say many, MANY did not see it that way either.
I know many wept at Biden speech that night I know many who were enraged that he came on so late. I know many who are baffled and bewildered by the lack of respect or honor that many Democrats have refused to give him and wonder -- why?
I can say this. Very few people in the position of ultimate power would be humanly capable of judging themselves, and coming to a conclusion of whether they were competent to go on in the presidency. Does one honestly believe that had it been Donald Trump the New York Times was writing hit pieces on every half hour, that he would’ve graciously exited the race?
What about Obama? What if he, during his second term had become a little less cognitively aware? Do you think Obama would’ve given a speech and resigned the presidency immediately?
Joe Biden has been through more in his life than most people.
Indeed , sometimes I marvel at the man’s strength. In 2020 when he won the presidency, it was against many odds , and it was despite many of the same people who forced him out of this race, not wanting him to be the candidate back then either.
I’ve read numerous books on the lack of respect Obama has shown him. Now I must preface this by saying I don’t know whether such talk is true. Who can know? What I do know is there’s been enough talk and enough articles and books written about it, that I would say some of it probably is accurate. And it makes me wonder.
I feel that Biden was never ever given the respect he deserves way, WAY before that ultimate debate with Trump.
Obama passed him by for Hillary, then when he was fighting for the nomination in 2020 many did not take him seriously and now this.
For somebody like Nancy Pelosi , she should thank her lucky stars Biden did run in 2020. As of now Biden stands as the only Democrat or Republican, who has ever beaten Donald Trump. Why doesn’t that count for anything?
Add to that the indignity of what happened the night he was to speak and did speak at the Democratic national convention. You better believe he should’ve gone on at the time he asked for.
The other thing, the writers didn't mention was the frenzied outpouring of love that the audience gave Biden when he eventually did speak.
I mean, it SEEMS that the writers have a certain distaste for him.
Now maybe I’m wrong, but I'd have liked to read about the love so many have for President Biden. The chant of that night was — thank you Biden.
Nobody , absolutely nobody that I spoke with thought Biden sounded angry that night.
So I was very turned off by that, and I really contemplated giving this a one star and savaging in my review, the treatment of Biden, but you know what?
The book was really well written. (Now we're back to the good again!). It’s rare that one can sit down and read a book cover to cover .
The writers provide very sharp analysis of why Donald Trump won and why Kamala Harris lost.
One thing I could not, and still can't comprehend, is why Tim Walz was sidelined. His '"weird" comment elicited a huge response. HE elicited a huge response. That debate with Vance was utterly devoid of any degree of reality. Did the MACHINE, tell Walz to tone it down? To be NICE, and take it easy on Vance? If so, they missed a major opportunity, which is of course not surprising. The machine sometimes seems like it exists to purely screw things up bigly. I don't blame Walz. He was the right VP candidate, who seemed -- muzzled and almost discarded.
The writers were FANTASTIC at showing that machine -- and the bedlam behind the scenes.
They were great at showing why some voters turned away from Harris.
But in my view, they left one major reason out.
Before I get into what that thing is, may I say that I also resented how Donald Trump was portrayed?
Very little of the book was devoted to his insanity. But I think the final straw for me was when he was described as being gentle.
GENTLE????!!!!
Now, perhaps somebody saw him as gentle. In the chapter I am talking about, without giving too much away, gentle was included as a thought by Someone, that when he wanted to be, he could sound gentle .
The authors did interview a lot of people, so who knows? But I really resented that Biden was depicted as some kind of egomaniacal brat, while the word gentle was applied to Donald Trump. I mean you can think a lot of Ways to describe Trump, but I don’t think many would refer to him as— gentle????!!
Now -- getting back to what was left out -- and this is just my opinion.
There is another reason Kamala lost. I don’t like to say it. I really don’t like to say it because I wish so very deeply that it wasn’t true.
She is a woman.
Of course, you have to factor in that. She’s also a black woman.
Despite extreme court justices patronizingly proclaiming, that racism is over, that is poppycock.
Racism is alive and well and living in all 50 states, Washington DC and the United States territories.
It’s not going anywhere.
Would Harris have won if she were a man? Would Josh Shapiro have won ? Would Mark Kelly have won ?
Maybe.
There’s no way of knowing that. We have no sliding doors into the past. There is no way to examine alternate theories in that respect.
But there is no doubt that there is a group of voters who did not, and would not vote for a woman – ANY woman.
Just like they didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton.
And some of them are our fellow women.
The visceral dislike of women is still present everywhere in human nature, including politics. Also, including in pop culture.
If you doubt this, think about the Me Too movement, and the backlash.
Think about Amber Heard. Think about Blake lively. Think about Angelina Jolie.
All of them have made certain accusations against men. All of them have been humiliated, name- called, shamed, scoffed at, laughed at and derided.
When people who do this kind of thing and engage in this kind of behavior, are confronted , they always have excuses ready.
Here is a bit of what they say:
Amber Heard was to blame but I wouldn’t say that about another kind of women!
Blake Lively is to blame. I wouldn’t say that about another kind of women, they claim.
Angelina Jolie is a bully. But I don’t hate women! I wouldn’t say that about another kind of women they claim.
I couldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton, but I’d vote for another kind of woman they claim
Well, Kamala Harris wasn’t a very good candidate. But I’d vote for another kind of women they claim.
No, they wouldn’t. No they would not.
These excuses -- kind of on repeat, aren't they?
I am going to conclude this review now. It was a tough read. The whole campaign season in 2024 was very difficult. It’s going to be a difficult few years.
I thank President Biden for his service, and I thank Kamala Harris for her joy.
And I thank the writers for giving me an incredible night of reading.
I wish I could thank the voters for voting for the first woman president, but sadly , as these writers , so eloquently explain , that’s far from what happened.
April 1, 2025
Well, this was $20 not well spent. The authors take great pains on their book tour to tout this as a non-partisan account of the 2024 election. They say it’ll make both Republicans and Democrats happy. I should have known. If it comes from the media, it’s going to be leftist propaganda. Just in the first chapter alone, every chance the authors mention Trump’s name, it’s to level some derogatory insult at him. Every word and sentence is nuanced to portray him negatively, while Biden comes across as nothing more than an old man with good intentions. It’s truly incredible. If these authors think that this book is fair and balanced, it’s proof of how utterly delusional they all really are.
Read
December 26, 2025I’m a masochist, it's true - but sometimes you also want the palace intrigue 🤷🏻♀️ I come away from this book feeling a whole lot of emotions, but it boils down to these several thoughts:
1. We have completely lost the thread when it comes to the intent behind running to become an elected official - to help our fellow Americans. This book focuses quite a bit on the big machine aspect of politics, and the inability of many to even contemplate that loss of power, even if it means doing what's best for the country. There are some who will never let the reins go, to the detriment of those they claim to work on behalf of.
2. I wish my severe anxiety didn't make it so hard for me to run for something, anything. The most important thing any of us can do, on both sides of the aisle, is to run for local leadership.
I would say this book is fairly neutral towards Trump and his team, as well as Harris and hers. It offers a fairly good postmortem as to where each campaign hit a snafu and how they worked to clean it up. If there is one fall guy, it is definitely Biden, as these authors go far out of their way to continually bring the focus back to him. Depending on your viewpoints, this could be either a good or a bad thing.
1. We have completely lost the thread when it comes to the intent behind running to become an elected official - to help our fellow Americans. This book focuses quite a bit on the big machine aspect of politics, and the inability of many to even contemplate that loss of power, even if it means doing what's best for the country. There are some who will never let the reins go, to the detriment of those they claim to work on behalf of.
2. I wish my severe anxiety didn't make it so hard for me to run for something, anything. The most important thing any of us can do, on both sides of the aisle, is to run for local leadership.
I would say this book is fairly neutral towards Trump and his team, as well as Harris and hers. It offers a fairly good postmortem as to where each campaign hit a snafu and how they worked to clean it up. If there is one fall guy, it is definitely Biden, as these authors go far out of their way to continually bring the focus back to him. Depending on your viewpoints, this could be either a good or a bad thing.
April 3, 2025
Kamala Harris, they could never make me hate you
April 3, 2025
Compulsively readable - I finished this lengthy book in 3 sittings. It provides a fascinating inside view of the 2024 election, giving the reader a sense both of the overall narrative and the microdetails (e.g. that the drive-by customers at Trump's McDonald stunt were all prescreened).
The structure is certainly effective, opening with a montage of the various major players on the evening of Biden and Trump's only debate, and closing with the aftermath of Harris' defeat, also from the perspective of the major players.
The sketches and portraits of the players themselves are detailed, rich, colorful and convincing. I particularly relished the characterizations of Obama and Pelosi, who both dreaded a Harris candidacy and were grimly vindicated in the end. (Biden did not return the favor of Obama's awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.)
Of the three principals, oddly Trump comes off best: typically egotistic and self-aggrandizing, but also charming, gentle (as described by the authors when he took Harris' concession call - "Trump thanked her for calling. She was struck by his gentle tone." Ch. 15) and - this is important - politically astute. He really does seem to have become more self-controlled and disciplined with time (and certainly wise enough to have - and keep! -Susie Wiles as principal manager).
Harris is presented as the worst: an empty candidate whose only reason for running was that she was next in line. Furthermore, she was held aloft only by the sentiment that the Democrats - keepers of the DEI flame - could hardly afford to pass over the first Black Woman to be the presidential candidate of a major political party. She is portrayed, not without sympathy as having been handed a series of impossible tasks, but as overly ambitious, insecure, and politically dim. (Also, as not particulary quick on her feet - bizarre, for an ex-prosecutor: cf. her infamous pull-quote from The View.)
Biden is tragic but not in a grand or ennobling way, and Allen and Parnes do not spare him (or his family) the vituperation for allowing his 2020 victory and the fulfillment of a lifetime ambition to delude himself into fantasy and devolve his faculties into senescence. Caught in a web of contradictions, he picked Harris to be his VP (as a sop to the woke-ists in his party) but really did not want her to run as President in his place (in recognition of the reality of her incompetence). As the authors point out, he was indeed a bridge - but not, as he intended, from Trump to the bright younger generation of Democratic leaders, but from Trump's first presidency to his second. He is last seen slumping off stage, still declaring that he could have won. Sad.
The structure is certainly effective, opening with a montage of the various major players on the evening of Biden and Trump's only debate, and closing with the aftermath of Harris' defeat, also from the perspective of the major players.
The sketches and portraits of the players themselves are detailed, rich, colorful and convincing. I particularly relished the characterizations of Obama and Pelosi, who both dreaded a Harris candidacy and were grimly vindicated in the end. (Biden did not return the favor of Obama's awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.)
Of the three principals, oddly Trump comes off best: typically egotistic and self-aggrandizing, but also charming, gentle (as described by the authors when he took Harris' concession call - "Trump thanked her for calling. She was struck by his gentle tone." Ch. 15) and - this is important - politically astute. He really does seem to have become more self-controlled and disciplined with time (and certainly wise enough to have - and keep! -Susie Wiles as principal manager).
Harris is presented as the worst: an empty candidate whose only reason for running was that she was next in line. Furthermore, she was held aloft only by the sentiment that the Democrats - keepers of the DEI flame - could hardly afford to pass over the first Black Woman to be the presidential candidate of a major political party. She is portrayed, not without sympathy as having been handed a series of impossible tasks, but as overly ambitious, insecure, and politically dim. (Also, as not particulary quick on her feet - bizarre, for an ex-prosecutor: cf. her infamous pull-quote from The View.)
Biden is tragic but not in a grand or ennobling way, and Allen and Parnes do not spare him (or his family) the vituperation for allowing his 2020 victory and the fulfillment of a lifetime ambition to delude himself into fantasy and devolve his faculties into senescence. Caught in a web of contradictions, he picked Harris to be his VP (as a sop to the woke-ists in his party) but really did not want her to run as President in his place (in recognition of the reality of her incompetence). As the authors point out, he was indeed a bridge - but not, as he intended, from Trump to the bright younger generation of Democratic leaders, but from Trump's first presidency to his second. He is last seen slumping off stage, still declaring that he could have won. Sad.
July 13, 2025
It was more or less balanced, but not as eye-opening as is being reported. Aside from perhaps a few sentences, it's nothing you didn't already know if you were paying attention during the campaign cycle.
Personally, I don't understand the abundance of F-bombs in a political analysis, claiming it was what the individuals "thought." It was non-stop in this book for some reason I can't explain. Honestly, just wait for the book to be marked on sale for $2.99 in a few months.
Personally, I don't understand the abundance of F-bombs in a political analysis, claiming it was what the individuals "thought." It was non-stop in this book for some reason I can't explain. Honestly, just wait for the book to be marked on sale for $2.99 in a few months.
September 1, 2025
Authors show why Trump won and Harris lost 2024 election: Biden refused to not run again until too late, Harris refused to break from Biden policies, Demos. were divided themselves, Party Establishment Biden, Clintons, supported Harris; Obama, Pelosi, didn't think Harris could win. Harris like Hillary before, talked above the working class. Trump realized voters main concerns were the economy and immigration. He even increased his female, Hispanic, and Black votes. This is despite Demos spending 4 times($1.5-2 billion) as much as Republicans. Still it could have gone either way, many ups and downs. Biden's handlers tried to hide his mental deterioration until his disastrous debate, assassination attempt on Trump. But in the end, Trump out organized the Demos. Husband and wife writers do a riveting job capturing what it was like in all three camps.
April 2, 2025
A depressing book. How did so many people talk to Biden and never tell him that he shouldn't continue?
June 10, 2025
At the time of every major election, especially Presidential, I find myself rewatching Frank Capra's film, "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington." This isn't only because I believe it is a great movie, but because I need to have my "innocence" refreshed. You see, I grew up being told that it was the job of political leaders to Serve the People. Indeed, during a recent visit to "my" Statehouse, I saw those sentiments literally etched into stone along with many illustrations of the process in an onsite museum celebrating the Democratic Process.
Of course, the reality of the political world is much different from my fantasy of it. This past year, I became so emotionally sickened by it (from both major political parties), that I deemed it a topic that would be banished the majority of the time from my mind.
So, it actually took quite a bit of emotional resolve for me to read FIGHT: INSIDE THE WILDEST BATTLE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE. However, I was pleased to discover that the biases usually present in such works were more restrained this time, and that this presentation was essentially a timeline of events along with the results that grew from them.
This is a gross over-simplification, but the premise is that Kamala Harris lost her bid because she campaigned on "Protecting Democracy," while Donald Trump won because he concentrated on satisfying Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Most Voters weren't against Protecting Democracy, but it didn't hit them where they lived.
I appreciated the writing style of Jonathan Allan and Amie Parnes. The presentation was clear, easy to understand, and absorbing. They weren't writing "A Historian's View For The Ages" as can be found in Bob Woodward's more recent works (although I'll admit that they do make for compelling reading).
Will President Trump deliver on his promises of a strong and prosperous America? As of this writing, almost six-months into his term, the historical jury is still "out." (I have to admit that I find it amazing that, as President of the United States, he has time to "run" the Kennedy Center ... and I will not forgive him for the blanket pardon of the January 6 insurrectionists.) Still, some of his approaches to problems are intriguing. I'm willing to made "impressed."
The unfortunate aspect (for me) is that the book only reinforced that my fantasy of selfless political leaders isn't now ... and is unlikely ever to be. But, I do have a hope that there will one day appear a candidate who so excites me that I will take up my banner and willingly follow. In the meantime, there's always "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington."
Of course, the reality of the political world is much different from my fantasy of it. This past year, I became so emotionally sickened by it (from both major political parties), that I deemed it a topic that would be banished the majority of the time from my mind.
So, it actually took quite a bit of emotional resolve for me to read FIGHT: INSIDE THE WILDEST BATTLE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE. However, I was pleased to discover that the biases usually present in such works were more restrained this time, and that this presentation was essentially a timeline of events along with the results that grew from them.
This is a gross over-simplification, but the premise is that Kamala Harris lost her bid because she campaigned on "Protecting Democracy," while Donald Trump won because he concentrated on satisfying Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Most Voters weren't against Protecting Democracy, but it didn't hit them where they lived.
I appreciated the writing style of Jonathan Allan and Amie Parnes. The presentation was clear, easy to understand, and absorbing. They weren't writing "A Historian's View For The Ages" as can be found in Bob Woodward's more recent works (although I'll admit that they do make for compelling reading).
Will President Trump deliver on his promises of a strong and prosperous America? As of this writing, almost six-months into his term, the historical jury is still "out." (I have to admit that I find it amazing that, as President of the United States, he has time to "run" the Kennedy Center ... and I will not forgive him for the blanket pardon of the January 6 insurrectionists.) Still, some of his approaches to problems are intriguing. I'm willing to made "impressed."
The unfortunate aspect (for me) is that the book only reinforced that my fantasy of selfless political leaders isn't now ... and is unlikely ever to be. But, I do have a hope that there will one day appear a candidate who so excites me that I will take up my banner and willingly follow. In the meantime, there's always "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington."
August 29, 2025
The 2024 Presidential Election is over, and the campaign memoir cycle has begun. The third and (probably) final book in Jonathan Allen's and Amie Parnes' Trump Trilogy, Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House is the most brisk and least bloated of the pair's books so far. Both Lucky and Shattered (and HRC, their reporting on Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State) are informative and well-written, but also padded out with long, winding passages about the finer details of campaign strategizing and unnecessarily long (and somewhat unbelievable) internal monologues. Starting as late in the process as they did, with the disastrous June 2024 debate rather than the primary campaign season as usual, much of that bloat has been cut, mostly for the better. (I say mostly because--well, we'll get to that in a moment.)
A lot has changed since Lucky. Joe Biden is no longer the folksy underdog hero of the Resistance but a narcissistic villain who caused all this mess in the first place. Kamala Harris isn't a cynical opportunist and untalented politician that Biden was peer-pressured into picking for VP, but a good-hearted, hard-working woman who would have shined brighter than everyone if only that dastardly Biden hadn't taken advantage of her good nature. The progressives are nowhere to be found. If Bernie, AOC, or Elizabeth Warren were mentioned at any point, I didn't notice. Allen and Parnes are over the progressive movement, and I'm willing to bet most people reading this are too.
But no one out of this cast of characters is more starkly different from their past portrayal than Donald Trump. Lucky went all-in on Trump being the living embodiment of Satan, waxing poetic about his racism and sexism and xenophobia, a symbol of the moral decay at the heart of America. Now, Trump is just another mainstream Republican, only with better showmanship and a surprising resilience against adversity. Little time is spent on his lawsuits or mean tweets, or even the infamous January 6th capitol riot. Instead, more focus is given to Trump's new and improved team, headlined by the hyper-competent Susie Wiles and her odd-couple work husband, Chris LaCivita. The pair manage the incredible feat of keeping Trump in line while fending off attempts at sabotage from the likes of Corey Lewandowski. Even JD Vance is treated with surprisingly little disdain. But the biggest reason why Team Trump was able to make a comeback was because of the man in charge: Trump himself had changed since 2020, and we see a much less impetuous and more strategic version of the returning president here.
Speaking of former presidents, Obama is much the same as last time here: cool, aloof, and losing influence. He, along with Nancy Pelosi, correctly predicted Kamala's loss, but is nevertheless shown as the guy willing to hide behind George Clooney rather than get his own hands dirty. Lucky ended by musing that a morose Obama must have been crushed to see the strength of Trump's turnout, knowing that his dream of hope and change was disproven by all of Trump's -isms. Allen and Parnes are less sentimental this time around: wild though 2024 may have been, this election is not painted in the same apocalyptic terms, and Trump's gains with both minority and Gen Z voters (a much more noteworthy development than what the authors acknowledge, if we're being honest) has driven a hole through the white supremacy argument that dominated the 2020 election news cycle.
Fight is undoubtedly gripping, but there's surprisingly little new information here for anyone who wasn't already following the news cycle. (It turns out Lindy Li was telling the truth in all those interviews, with nearly everything she said confirmed by this book.) What's more telling are the things Allen and Parnes chose to leave out or downplay. Nancy Pelosi's role in pushing out Biden is minimized, with no mention of her personally pressuring or threatening him to withdraw from the race (something which is allegedly confirmed to have happened by the authors of other election books coming out soon). The writers paint Harris' loss as the result of Biden insisting that there be "no daylight" between the two of them, ignoring how Harris had almost no policy proposals, gave remarkably few interviews and, when she did finally agree to sit down with an interviewer or two, could hardly spit out a sentence. No mention is made of Doug Emhoff's many personal scandals, including domestic violence accusations from an ex-girlfriend. And despite their attempts at fairness, Allen and Parnes still fall back on a number of liberal sanctimonies: admitting that Harris was only chosen as VP because of her race and gender but then acting outraged when she was dubbed a "DEI candidate," clutching their pearls over a C-list comedian's dumb joke about Puerto Rico, and ignoring the unmistakable sound of laughter from the crowd at Trump's jokes during a black journalists' convention. This is the type of eye-rolling bias that turns off half the audience, and is part of the culture that ultimately led to voters catapulting Trump back into the White House.
But the biggest cognitive dissonance is over none other than President Biden. Allen and Parnes devote the first several chapters to covering Biden's cognitive decline, not sugar-coating any of it, yet never seem to fully make the connection to what this really means. Biden's decision to run again, and his stubborn refusal to get off the ticket until the last possible moment are portrayed as the malice of a narcissist. But if this man was not cognitively sound enough to remember when his beloved son died, or needed tape on the floor indicating the path he needed to walk, or forgot that the lawmaker whose memorial he was attending was dead, then can he really be held responsible for this decision? And if he can't, then who should? The writers dance around the role that Biden's family and closest advisors, all in love with their new lives in the White House and unwilling to give it up, played in both running the country and trying to cover up Biden's condition. They were the ones insisting that he run again, to the point where they let Biden go out on stage during the June debate and humiliate himself before the rest of the world. If Biden was truly this far gone--and Allen and Parnes clearly believe he was--then this was an act of elder abuse on an unprecedented scale, and to blame Trump's victory on Biden is to blame the victim. This is the real scandal that journalists are failing to face. The president was compromised, the press covered it up (I don't recall Allen and Parnes having much to say about it prior to the debate either, for that matter), and the people closest to him cruelly manipulated him for their own fame and fortune.
A lot has changed since Lucky. Joe Biden is no longer the folksy underdog hero of the Resistance but a narcissistic villain who caused all this mess in the first place. Kamala Harris isn't a cynical opportunist and untalented politician that Biden was peer-pressured into picking for VP, but a good-hearted, hard-working woman who would have shined brighter than everyone if only that dastardly Biden hadn't taken advantage of her good nature. The progressives are nowhere to be found. If Bernie, AOC, or Elizabeth Warren were mentioned at any point, I didn't notice. Allen and Parnes are over the progressive movement, and I'm willing to bet most people reading this are too.
But no one out of this cast of characters is more starkly different from their past portrayal than Donald Trump. Lucky went all-in on Trump being the living embodiment of Satan, waxing poetic about his racism and sexism and xenophobia, a symbol of the moral decay at the heart of America. Now, Trump is just another mainstream Republican, only with better showmanship and a surprising resilience against adversity. Little time is spent on his lawsuits or mean tweets, or even the infamous January 6th capitol riot. Instead, more focus is given to Trump's new and improved team, headlined by the hyper-competent Susie Wiles and her odd-couple work husband, Chris LaCivita. The pair manage the incredible feat of keeping Trump in line while fending off attempts at sabotage from the likes of Corey Lewandowski. Even JD Vance is treated with surprisingly little disdain. But the biggest reason why Team Trump was able to make a comeback was because of the man in charge: Trump himself had changed since 2020, and we see a much less impetuous and more strategic version of the returning president here.
Speaking of former presidents, Obama is much the same as last time here: cool, aloof, and losing influence. He, along with Nancy Pelosi, correctly predicted Kamala's loss, but is nevertheless shown as the guy willing to hide behind George Clooney rather than get his own hands dirty. Lucky ended by musing that a morose Obama must have been crushed to see the strength of Trump's turnout, knowing that his dream of hope and change was disproven by all of Trump's -isms. Allen and Parnes are less sentimental this time around: wild though 2024 may have been, this election is not painted in the same apocalyptic terms, and Trump's gains with both minority and Gen Z voters (a much more noteworthy development than what the authors acknowledge, if we're being honest) has driven a hole through the white supremacy argument that dominated the 2020 election news cycle.
Fight is undoubtedly gripping, but there's surprisingly little new information here for anyone who wasn't already following the news cycle. (It turns out Lindy Li was telling the truth in all those interviews, with nearly everything she said confirmed by this book.) What's more telling are the things Allen and Parnes chose to leave out or downplay. Nancy Pelosi's role in pushing out Biden is minimized, with no mention of her personally pressuring or threatening him to withdraw from the race (something which is allegedly confirmed to have happened by the authors of other election books coming out soon). The writers paint Harris' loss as the result of Biden insisting that there be "no daylight" between the two of them, ignoring how Harris had almost no policy proposals, gave remarkably few interviews and, when she did finally agree to sit down with an interviewer or two, could hardly spit out a sentence. No mention is made of Doug Emhoff's many personal scandals, including domestic violence accusations from an ex-girlfriend. And despite their attempts at fairness, Allen and Parnes still fall back on a number of liberal sanctimonies: admitting that Harris was only chosen as VP because of her race and gender but then acting outraged when she was dubbed a "DEI candidate," clutching their pearls over a C-list comedian's dumb joke about Puerto Rico, and ignoring the unmistakable sound of laughter from the crowd at Trump's jokes during a black journalists' convention. This is the type of eye-rolling bias that turns off half the audience, and is part of the culture that ultimately led to voters catapulting Trump back into the White House.
But the biggest cognitive dissonance is over none other than President Biden. Allen and Parnes devote the first several chapters to covering Biden's cognitive decline, not sugar-coating any of it, yet never seem to fully make the connection to what this really means. Biden's decision to run again, and his stubborn refusal to get off the ticket until the last possible moment are portrayed as the malice of a narcissist. But if this man was not cognitively sound enough to remember when his beloved son died, or needed tape on the floor indicating the path he needed to walk, or forgot that the lawmaker whose memorial he was attending was dead, then can he really be held responsible for this decision? And if he can't, then who should? The writers dance around the role that Biden's family and closest advisors, all in love with their new lives in the White House and unwilling to give it up, played in both running the country and trying to cover up Biden's condition. They were the ones insisting that he run again, to the point where they let Biden go out on stage during the June debate and humiliate himself before the rest of the world. If Biden was truly this far gone--and Allen and Parnes clearly believe he was--then this was an act of elder abuse on an unprecedented scale, and to blame Trump's victory on Biden is to blame the victim. This is the real scandal that journalists are failing to face. The president was compromised, the press covered it up (I don't recall Allen and Parnes having much to say about it prior to the debate either, for that matter), and the people closest to him cruelly manipulated him for their own fame and fortune.
April 20, 2025
Almost no new information. Very boring. Surprised I finished. Perhaps interesting if you spent 2024 in a coma.
April 12, 2025
I've always had a feeling that something wasn’t quite right about Harris, and this book really confirmed those suspicions. The way the Democratic Party has handled Biden feels deeply disappointing—honestly, it’s made me question my continued support. Still, given the alternative, I keep voting this way. It’s a tough place to be: caught between disillusionment and fear of authoritarianism.
April 3, 2025
Dems will continue to lose until they get brutally honest with themselves
Parnes and Allen have fallen victim to the same gaslighting they feebly attempt to expose. Susie Wiles is a heroine.
Parnes and Allen have fallen victim to the same gaslighting they feebly attempt to expose. Susie Wiles is a heroine.
April 10, 2025
Allen & Parnes want to have their cake and eat it, too (and from the looks of Allen, he's used to eating his cake).
After a glance at the authors' side gigs on the back flap bio (sometime-contributors to NBC, ABC, Politico, CNN--the usual suspects), I didn't expect much. I should've expected less.
Allen & Parents seem to resent that Biden "deceived them. How was anyone supposed to know that he was senile?? Their feelings are hurt that this bastion of integrity (I can barely type the words in sarcasm), this "savior of the republic" (yes, they actually wrote that) "had put ego over party and country". Yet they're careful to maintain a regular Trump-punching-bag mantra throughout in an attempt to not alienate the rabid-dog, TDS-infected; the communistic-democrat mainstay who expect nothing less than total obeisance and submission to their ideology.
Few tidbits in this book--if any--are exactly an "expose"; nothing that any non-cave dweller with access to media doesn't already know.
Within the laundry list of Biden fuck-ups in his debate with Trump, A&P say that bidenworld "didn't need to convince anyone that Trump had lied repeatedly or held extreme views, though they don't articulate one single "lie" or "extreme view", and just as they don't point out that "fake Jake" Tapper hadn't "fact-checked Biden on all of his debate lies, which was virtually everything he said--and not even the most glaring one that no American had died overseas on his watch.
A&P matter-of-factly describe The New York Times as the "self-appointed conscience of the center left"; and Morning Joe is "the virtual breakfast table of the left-of-center intelligentsia". Good Lord. Does anyone have a barf bag? I hope you don't read this book while you're eating, to speak of breakfast tables.
No, A&P don't see Morning Joe and the NYT as the irresponsible liars and propaganda arms of the democrat party who tried to gaslight dementia Joe into a second term.
Demoralized megadonors thought "an honest assessment would go a long way". But campaign senior adviser Jennifer O'Malley Dillon "had a responsibility to Biden, her party, and her country to help deliver a second term" to the senile Biden.
Reading this book was like watching MSNBC--which I don't even do, but see clips of their propaganda on social media. Notice the order of importance above--biden, party, country. It was important to keep dementia Joe--who couldn't find his way through a living room without fluorescent tape on the carpet--in the most important job in the world.
These people--Allen and Parnes obviously included--are disgusting. But "clarity is in short supply" with the democrats, and asking one not to lie is like asking a tiger to change his stripes.
Alas, in the end, there was nothing left to do but anoint the failing-upward champ Kamala Harris--the woman whose only success was attaining political power through the power of fellatio.
It's just too much for a reasonable person to take.
A&P mention the Bill Clinton appearance following the debate, but not the Freudian slip he made about Biden's open border fiasco.
Supposed quotes throughout the book aren't bracketed by quotation marks, but italicized, which further discredits this book and the authors.
After a glance at the authors' side gigs on the back flap bio (sometime-contributors to NBC, ABC, Politico, CNN--the usual suspects), I didn't expect much. I should've expected less.
Allen & Parents seem to resent that Biden "deceived them. How was anyone supposed to know that he was senile?? Their feelings are hurt that this bastion of integrity (I can barely type the words in sarcasm), this "savior of the republic" (yes, they actually wrote that) "had put ego over party and country". Yet they're careful to maintain a regular Trump-punching-bag mantra throughout in an attempt to not alienate the rabid-dog, TDS-infected; the communistic-democrat mainstay who expect nothing less than total obeisance and submission to their ideology.
Few tidbits in this book--if any--are exactly an "expose"; nothing that any non-cave dweller with access to media doesn't already know.
Within the laundry list of Biden fuck-ups in his debate with Trump, A&P say that bidenworld "didn't need to convince anyone that Trump had lied repeatedly or held extreme views, though they don't articulate one single "lie" or "extreme view", and just as they don't point out that "fake Jake" Tapper hadn't "fact-checked Biden on all of his debate lies, which was virtually everything he said--and not even the most glaring one that no American had died overseas on his watch.
A&P matter-of-factly describe The New York Times as the "self-appointed conscience of the center left"; and Morning Joe is "the virtual breakfast table of the left-of-center intelligentsia". Good Lord. Does anyone have a barf bag? I hope you don't read this book while you're eating, to speak of breakfast tables.
No, A&P don't see Morning Joe and the NYT as the irresponsible liars and propaganda arms of the democrat party who tried to gaslight dementia Joe into a second term.
Demoralized megadonors thought "an honest assessment would go a long way". But campaign senior adviser Jennifer O'Malley Dillon "had a responsibility to Biden, her party, and her country to help deliver a second term" to the senile Biden.
Reading this book was like watching MSNBC--which I don't even do, but see clips of their propaganda on social media. Notice the order of importance above--biden, party, country. It was important to keep dementia Joe--who couldn't find his way through a living room without fluorescent tape on the carpet--in the most important job in the world.
These people--Allen and Parnes obviously included--are disgusting. But "clarity is in short supply" with the democrats, and asking one not to lie is like asking a tiger to change his stripes.
Alas, in the end, there was nothing left to do but anoint the failing-upward champ Kamala Harris--the woman whose only success was attaining political power through the power of fellatio.
It's just too much for a reasonable person to take.
A&P mention the Bill Clinton appearance following the debate, but not the Freudian slip he made about Biden's open border fiasco.
Supposed quotes throughout the book aren't bracketed by quotation marks, but italicized, which further discredits this book and the authors.
May 14, 2025
Wild Thing
A review of the William Morrow hardcover (April 1, 2025) released simultaneously with the eBook/audiobook.
Even as a Canadian observer I couldn't help but have my attention constantly drawn to the 2024 American election and see events taking various dramatic turns resulting in the re-election of Donald Trump. There are sure to be countless further books written during the current 4-year term and even afterwards, depending on how events unfold. The Trump Tell-Alls Listopia on GR numbers 254 books as of mid-May 2025, so watch that space.
This current book is perhaps the first of the Biden Tell-Alls though, released on April 1, 2025. Chris Whipple's Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History (April 8, 2025) followed only a week later, but seems to be poorly rated. Jake Tapper's Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again (May 20, 2025) will follow next week, but is already being 1⭐star review bombed by people who likely have not even read it. GR may even lockdown reviewing on it, if the 1-stars continue.
Allen & Parnes do give what seems to be a balanced account with as much of the inside story of both the Trump and Biden/Harris campaigns as they could uncover in the time available. There is only a minor whiff of rush-to-print about it in that it lacks an index, so it is a bit of a blur of names to follow without any convenient way to refer back to when they were first introduced. The main figures do get quickly stuck in your head though. So watch for mentions of Susie Wiles on the Trump campaign and Jen O'Malley Dillon on the Biden/Harris campaign. They emerge as the dominant driving forces.
The prominent gaffes and missteps of both campaigns are likely well known at this point so much of this will not be that surprising. The overwhelming impression is the number of self-inflicted errors by the Democrats though, especially the behind-the-scenes takedown of Biden by Obama & Pelosi, even while their public faces pretended friendship. The last minute candidate switch, despite a superior fund-raising effort, seems to have doomed the campaign from the start.
In case you wonder where I stand politically, I did an online comparison poll back in 2015-2016 where you answered about 20 questions on various issues and how you felt about them. Once the results were tabulated, the answer told you which American politician your values aligned with. Mine was Bernie Sanders, probably not too surprising due to universal health care in Canada and other social issues, eh?
A review of the William Morrow hardcover (April 1, 2025) released simultaneously with the eBook/audiobook.
Even as a Canadian observer I couldn't help but have my attention constantly drawn to the 2024 American election and see events taking various dramatic turns resulting in the re-election of Donald Trump. There are sure to be countless further books written during the current 4-year term and even afterwards, depending on how events unfold. The Trump Tell-Alls Listopia on GR numbers 254 books as of mid-May 2025, so watch that space.
This current book is perhaps the first of the Biden Tell-Alls though, released on April 1, 2025. Chris Whipple's Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History (April 8, 2025) followed only a week later, but seems to be poorly rated. Jake Tapper's Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again (May 20, 2025) will follow next week, but is already being 1⭐star review bombed by people who likely have not even read it. GR may even lockdown reviewing on it, if the 1-stars continue.
Allen & Parnes do give what seems to be a balanced account with as much of the inside story of both the Trump and Biden/Harris campaigns as they could uncover in the time available. There is only a minor whiff of rush-to-print about it in that it lacks an index, so it is a bit of a blur of names to follow without any convenient way to refer back to when they were first introduced. The main figures do get quickly stuck in your head though. So watch for mentions of Susie Wiles on the Trump campaign and Jen O'Malley Dillon on the Biden/Harris campaign. They emerge as the dominant driving forces.
The prominent gaffes and missteps of both campaigns are likely well known at this point so much of this will not be that surprising. The overwhelming impression is the number of self-inflicted errors by the Democrats though, especially the behind-the-scenes takedown of Biden by Obama & Pelosi, even while their public faces pretended friendship. The last minute candidate switch, despite a superior fund-raising effort, seems to have doomed the campaign from the start.
In case you wonder where I stand politically, I did an online comparison poll back in 2015-2016 where you answered about 20 questions on various issues and how you felt about them. Once the results were tabulated, the answer told you which American politician your values aligned with. Mine was Bernie Sanders, probably not too surprising due to universal health care in Canada and other social issues, eh?
April 2, 2025
I love political gossip
April 21, 2025
I had seen some hype around this book when it first came out. But nothing new is disclosed in this book that you could not have gleaned from news reporting. There are no revelations or shocking reveals.
This may be the result of the authors bias. It seems like they have tip toed around the nastier subjects. They clearly show a Democrat bias, a desire to keep within that world and retain access probably colored their writing.
That said, this sanitized version of the campaign is probably the closest we will get to the truth.
This may be the result of the authors bias. It seems like they have tip toed around the nastier subjects. They clearly show a Democrat bias, a desire to keep within that world and retain access probably colored their writing.
That said, this sanitized version of the campaign is probably the closest we will get to the truth.
April 8, 2025
Well... this was a depressing read. There is some extraneous "gossip" that seems to actually be the authors' opinions disguised as fact, but most of it seems to be pretty factual.
After reading this book, I am sure of a few things that strongly led to the 2024 election loss:
1) Biden should never have run for a second term. I admit that I was behind him when he announced, seeing how much had actually been accomplished during his first term. Despite the media portrayal, and the right wing noise machines, Biden had a VERY successful presidency, bringing us back from the brink of economic disaster. Yet, he had promised to be a "bridge" candidate and lead us back from the brink before turning over the reigns. Instead, he felt the power of bring President (a dream he had chased since 1988) and did not wish to give it up. More so, it was his advisors and (surprisingly) his wife Jill that insisted he stay in the race. They all wanted to remain at the top, and in doing so gaslit the party and the country. I do NOT believe the Joe Biden has dementia or that there was some big cover up. He is a man in his 80's - there is bound to be physical and mental slowing. But we all were fine with that when he ran as a bridge to get us through tough times... we should have been more vocal about his need to not run, though it seems his advisors were never going to let that happen.
2) Barack Obama has lost his damn mind, and I am starting to wonder what happened to his political instincts. His trying to start an open convention when Biden dropped out is at best stupid and at worst completely out of touch with reality. You cannot have a "fast primary" in 107 days, pick a candidate, and then reunite the various factions to bring together a winning coalition. That CANNOT happen. It is already almost impossible to do in a normal presidential election calendar (see 2016 and a lot of 2020). To cram that in? I believe instinctually that the election would have had an even worse outcome had this been the route taken. And then to say "Hey Kamala, thanks for helping with the 2020 campaign and your time as VP, but uh... we're gonna hand this off to some white folks instead that are untested on a national level". Nope. That's ridiculous.
If it had been a normal calendar and Biden had decided to not run for reelection, then there would have been a primary and Kamala would have run in it with several other Dems. That would have helped flesh out differences with the current plans and her own plans.
Instead, we got a too-late drop out after a disastrous debate and an immediate demand from Biden to Kamala Harris: "No Daylight Kid". He pressured her to not announce any differences between them and demanded 100% loyalty. Which leads to...
3) Yes, Kamala Harris did make a gaffe on The View when she said she couldn't think of anything she would have done differently than Joe Biden when it came to the last 4 years. She was loyal to a fault, and that hurt her hard. She is by no means a perfect candidate but she did almost everything right and still lost.
4) The "trans ad" from Trump was a killing blow. Yes, it was taken out of context. Yes, it was lurid and disgusting. Yes, it was hateful and ignorant. However, it struck a chord with men and communities that were not as pro-trans rights as others. It was used to paint Kamala Harris as a looney leftie, and it was run ad nauseum during televised sporting events and male-dominated channels. "Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you" was disaster and the campaign reacted way too late to change that narrative. The book specifically mentions that Bill Clinton saw the traction it was gaining and called everyone he could in the campaign to warn them but was ignored because they "weren't seeing that in the data". It was brutal, and this generations "Willie Horton" ad.
5) Delusional campaign staff still loyal to Biden, and filled with folks who had tried to take down the VP in the first two years of Biden's presidency. It is clear now more than ever that those folks were trying to destroy her back then to keep her from ascending to the top of the ticket in 2024. If she was seen as strong and viable, there would be calls to stop Biden from running again. They could not have that.
This book is worth the read. It is the first of the 2024 campaign books to be released that is written by journalists with a track record in this area. There have been others released that seems toxic and gossipy with no real story. I look forward to the next book with proven journalists (2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America - coming July 2025) to see how much is agreed upon between the two.
I have a lot of additional thoughts on this book, but these are the most formed.
After reading this book, I am sure of a few things that strongly led to the 2024 election loss:
1) Biden should never have run for a second term. I admit that I was behind him when he announced, seeing how much had actually been accomplished during his first term. Despite the media portrayal, and the right wing noise machines, Biden had a VERY successful presidency, bringing us back from the brink of economic disaster. Yet, he had promised to be a "bridge" candidate and lead us back from the brink before turning over the reigns. Instead, he felt the power of bring President (a dream he had chased since 1988) and did not wish to give it up. More so, it was his advisors and (surprisingly) his wife Jill that insisted he stay in the race. They all wanted to remain at the top, and in doing so gaslit the party and the country. I do NOT believe the Joe Biden has dementia or that there was some big cover up. He is a man in his 80's - there is bound to be physical and mental slowing. But we all were fine with that when he ran as a bridge to get us through tough times... we should have been more vocal about his need to not run, though it seems his advisors were never going to let that happen.
2) Barack Obama has lost his damn mind, and I am starting to wonder what happened to his political instincts. His trying to start an open convention when Biden dropped out is at best stupid and at worst completely out of touch with reality. You cannot have a "fast primary" in 107 days, pick a candidate, and then reunite the various factions to bring together a winning coalition. That CANNOT happen. It is already almost impossible to do in a normal presidential election calendar (see 2016 and a lot of 2020). To cram that in? I believe instinctually that the election would have had an even worse outcome had this been the route taken. And then to say "Hey Kamala, thanks for helping with the 2020 campaign and your time as VP, but uh... we're gonna hand this off to some white folks instead that are untested on a national level". Nope. That's ridiculous.
If it had been a normal calendar and Biden had decided to not run for reelection, then there would have been a primary and Kamala would have run in it with several other Dems. That would have helped flesh out differences with the current plans and her own plans.
Instead, we got a too-late drop out after a disastrous debate and an immediate demand from Biden to Kamala Harris: "No Daylight Kid". He pressured her to not announce any differences between them and demanded 100% loyalty. Which leads to...
3) Yes, Kamala Harris did make a gaffe on The View when she said she couldn't think of anything she would have done differently than Joe Biden when it came to the last 4 years. She was loyal to a fault, and that hurt her hard. She is by no means a perfect candidate but she did almost everything right and still lost.
4) The "trans ad" from Trump was a killing blow. Yes, it was taken out of context. Yes, it was lurid and disgusting. Yes, it was hateful and ignorant. However, it struck a chord with men and communities that were not as pro-trans rights as others. It was used to paint Kamala Harris as a looney leftie, and it was run ad nauseum during televised sporting events and male-dominated channels. "Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you" was disaster and the campaign reacted way too late to change that narrative. The book specifically mentions that Bill Clinton saw the traction it was gaining and called everyone he could in the campaign to warn them but was ignored because they "weren't seeing that in the data". It was brutal, and this generations "Willie Horton" ad.
5) Delusional campaign staff still loyal to Biden, and filled with folks who had tried to take down the VP in the first two years of Biden's presidency. It is clear now more than ever that those folks were trying to destroy her back then to keep her from ascending to the top of the ticket in 2024. If she was seen as strong and viable, there would be calls to stop Biden from running again. They could not have that.
This book is worth the read. It is the first of the 2024 campaign books to be released that is written by journalists with a track record in this area. There have been others released that seems toxic and gossipy with no real story. I look forward to the next book with proven journalists (2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America - coming July 2025) to see how much is agreed upon between the two.
I have a lot of additional thoughts on this book, but these are the most formed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2025
Focused way more on Harris…
I wanted to know more about Joe’s cognitive decline and who knew. The rest is what you’d expect: why Trump won and why she lost.
I wanted to know more about Joe’s cognitive decline and who knew. The rest is what you’d expect: why Trump won and why she lost.
July 1, 2025
The Illusion of the System:
This is not a book of deep political analysis, strategy, or insight — it's political gossip. But whether intentional or not, its value is in what it accidentally exposes: the staggering incompetence, delusion, and self-serving corruption of both major political parties. The book doesn’t realize it, but it reveals that the so-called 'center' in American politics is a fiction — a smokescreen for oligarchy.
The Rot of Both Parties:
Both parties are filled with corrupt, entitled, insulated elites whose confidence is matched only by their detachment from the actual suffering of the American public. This isn't hyperbole — it's the reality anyone paying rent, buying groceries, or visiting a hospital understands intimately. The parties aren’t adversaries; they're business partners in maintaining a system where wealth and power are locked at the top.
Mamdani’s Win: Proof of Cracks in the System:
Amid this dysfunction, Zohran Mamdani’s victory isn’t just an electoral win — it’s a rupture in the facade. A candidate outspent 30-to-1 by corporate-backed Democrats, polling at 0%, still won. He didn’t win by playing the insider game or toeing the donor line. He won on a message simple, direct, and universal: affordability. He spoke to the fundamental question most Americans are asking: What is the value of being an American if survival itself is unaffordable?
The Manufactured Panic From the Establishment:
The response to Mamdani’s win was instant, bipartisan panic. The attacks weren’t about policy — they were character assassinations, smears, and gaslighting. You saw the real alignment of power: it’s not left vs. right. It’s the oligarchy — both red and blue — vs. everyone else. Both parties showed their hand. When the donor class feels even the faintest tremor of grassroots power, they circle the wagons to crush it. Suddenly, fighting for housing, healthcare, and human rights makes you an existential threat.
The Center Is a Lie:
There is no center. The ‘center’ is just the status quo — a rigged economy where a handful hoard trillions while millions live in economic precarity. The so-called 'centrism' our media sells us is a smokescreen for corporate rule. If demanding housing, healthcare, education, and living wages is 'extreme,' then the problem isn’t with the voters — it’s with a system that gaslights its population into accepting misery as moderation.
Why the Rage Matters:
Both parties fundamentally misunderstand the depth of rage simmering in the American public. It’s not partisan rage — it’s class rage. It’s the rage of people price-gouged for every basic need, watching the ladder of opportunity be pulled away generation after generation. This is what creates the appeal of authoritarian strongmen like Trump — not because people love him, but because they believe the system is unfixable through normal means.
Conclusion: The Choice in Front of Us:
Mamdani’s win represents proof that a better path is possible. It’s a rejection of the rigged, hollow centrism that serves no one but donors. It’s a demand for dignity — for a quality of life where basic needs are not a luxury. The system’s collapse isn’t inevitable — but it will be, if those in power continue to pretend that a starving, overworked, and disillusioned public will sit quietly forever.
The American political system isn’t broken — it’s functioning exactly as designed. And that’s the problem.
3.2 stars
This is not a book of deep political analysis, strategy, or insight — it's political gossip. But whether intentional or not, its value is in what it accidentally exposes: the staggering incompetence, delusion, and self-serving corruption of both major political parties. The book doesn’t realize it, but it reveals that the so-called 'center' in American politics is a fiction — a smokescreen for oligarchy.
The Rot of Both Parties:
Both parties are filled with corrupt, entitled, insulated elites whose confidence is matched only by their detachment from the actual suffering of the American public. This isn't hyperbole — it's the reality anyone paying rent, buying groceries, or visiting a hospital understands intimately. The parties aren’t adversaries; they're business partners in maintaining a system where wealth and power are locked at the top.
Mamdani’s Win: Proof of Cracks in the System:
Amid this dysfunction, Zohran Mamdani’s victory isn’t just an electoral win — it’s a rupture in the facade. A candidate outspent 30-to-1 by corporate-backed Democrats, polling at 0%, still won. He didn’t win by playing the insider game or toeing the donor line. He won on a message simple, direct, and universal: affordability. He spoke to the fundamental question most Americans are asking: What is the value of being an American if survival itself is unaffordable?
The Manufactured Panic From the Establishment:
The response to Mamdani’s win was instant, bipartisan panic. The attacks weren’t about policy — they were character assassinations, smears, and gaslighting. You saw the real alignment of power: it’s not left vs. right. It’s the oligarchy — both red and blue — vs. everyone else. Both parties showed their hand. When the donor class feels even the faintest tremor of grassroots power, they circle the wagons to crush it. Suddenly, fighting for housing, healthcare, and human rights makes you an existential threat.
The Center Is a Lie:
There is no center. The ‘center’ is just the status quo — a rigged economy where a handful hoard trillions while millions live in economic precarity. The so-called 'centrism' our media sells us is a smokescreen for corporate rule. If demanding housing, healthcare, education, and living wages is 'extreme,' then the problem isn’t with the voters — it’s with a system that gaslights its population into accepting misery as moderation.
Why the Rage Matters:
Both parties fundamentally misunderstand the depth of rage simmering in the American public. It’s not partisan rage — it’s class rage. It’s the rage of people price-gouged for every basic need, watching the ladder of opportunity be pulled away generation after generation. This is what creates the appeal of authoritarian strongmen like Trump — not because people love him, but because they believe the system is unfixable through normal means.
Conclusion: The Choice in Front of Us:
Mamdani’s win represents proof that a better path is possible. It’s a rejection of the rigged, hollow centrism that serves no one but donors. It’s a demand for dignity — for a quality of life where basic needs are not a luxury. The system’s collapse isn’t inevitable — but it will be, if those in power continue to pretend that a starving, overworked, and disillusioned public will sit quietly forever.
The American political system isn’t broken — it’s functioning exactly as designed. And that’s the problem.
3.2 stars
April 3, 2025
This is mainly a look at the fractured Democratic party before and after the 2024 US Presidential Election. It was never in doubt that Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee. What was up for debate was Joe Biden's fitness for a second term in office, and, if he should drop out, who would take up the mantle.
Politics is a cutthroat game, and that is on full display in this book. It was very interesting to read about "behind the scenes" events alongside the major things that the public knew. One of the drawbacks of the book, I think, is the speed with which it was published. There are so many players in the game and we are introduced to them in rapid succession. Sometimes, we don't even get the benefit of a first name at the introduction, which makes things confusing. Also, the book is littered with F-bombs. If someone used it in a quotation, fine. However, when the authors just casually throw them in, it feels unprofessional.
I'm glad I'm not in politics. This book was a good lesson in that.
Politics is a cutthroat game, and that is on full display in this book. It was very interesting to read about "behind the scenes" events alongside the major things that the public knew. One of the drawbacks of the book, I think, is the speed with which it was published. There are so many players in the game and we are introduced to them in rapid succession. Sometimes, we don't even get the benefit of a first name at the introduction, which makes things confusing. Also, the book is littered with F-bombs. If someone used it in a quotation, fine. However, when the authors just casually throw them in, it feels unprofessional.
I'm glad I'm not in politics. This book was a good lesson in that.
April 9, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 Stars (Outstanding)
Setting: 2024 US Presidential Race
Genre: Political Nonfiction; Investigative Journalism; Narrative Nonfiction
Fight is a gripping, behind-the-scenes political thriller disguised as nonfiction. Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes once again prove they are masters of insider reporting, delivering a stunning, unfiltered chronicle of the 2024 presidential race—one of the most chaotic, consequential, and jaw-dropping elections in American history.
From the first page, Fight pulls you into the raw intensity of a campaign season that shattered norms and rewrote the rules. The authors provide a rare fly-on-the-wall perspective of a political landscape in upheaval: a sitting president stepping aside, a former president battling legal crises and an assassination attempt, and a vice president thrown into a whirlwind 107-day campaign that few saw coming.
Allen and Parnes’ access is unmatched. Their interviews with over 150 key players—spanning the Biden, Trump, and Harris camps—allow them to paint a vivid, nuanced portrait of ambition, loyalty, betrayal, and resilience. The prose is sharp and cinematic, capturing the emotional weight and moral complexity of the decisions being made in real time. It’s not just a story of strategies and speeches; it’s a story of people at their most raw and real.
What makes Fight especially compelling is how it moves beyond the headlines to explore the personal toll of power struggles—on relationships, reputations, and legacies. The depiction of President Biden’s internal battle to stay in the race, Trump’s ruthless political instincts, and Harris’s sudden thrust into center stage is both dramatic and deeply human.
This isn’t just political reporting—it’s history unfolding in real time, told with clarity, urgency, and insight. Whether you’re a political junkie or just trying to make sense of this pivotal moment in American life, Fight is essential reading. Five stars, and then some. #netgalley #fight #booked_this_weekend
Setting: 2024 US Presidential Race
Genre: Political Nonfiction; Investigative Journalism; Narrative Nonfiction
Fight is a gripping, behind-the-scenes political thriller disguised as nonfiction. Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes once again prove they are masters of insider reporting, delivering a stunning, unfiltered chronicle of the 2024 presidential race—one of the most chaotic, consequential, and jaw-dropping elections in American history.
From the first page, Fight pulls you into the raw intensity of a campaign season that shattered norms and rewrote the rules. The authors provide a rare fly-on-the-wall perspective of a political landscape in upheaval: a sitting president stepping aside, a former president battling legal crises and an assassination attempt, and a vice president thrown into a whirlwind 107-day campaign that few saw coming.
Allen and Parnes’ access is unmatched. Their interviews with over 150 key players—spanning the Biden, Trump, and Harris camps—allow them to paint a vivid, nuanced portrait of ambition, loyalty, betrayal, and resilience. The prose is sharp and cinematic, capturing the emotional weight and moral complexity of the decisions being made in real time. It’s not just a story of strategies and speeches; it’s a story of people at their most raw and real.
What makes Fight especially compelling is how it moves beyond the headlines to explore the personal toll of power struggles—on relationships, reputations, and legacies. The depiction of President Biden’s internal battle to stay in the race, Trump’s ruthless political instincts, and Harris’s sudden thrust into center stage is both dramatic and deeply human.
This isn’t just political reporting—it’s history unfolding in real time, told with clarity, urgency, and insight. Whether you’re a political junkie or just trying to make sense of this pivotal moment in American life, Fight is essential reading. Five stars, and then some. #netgalley #fight #booked_this_weekend
April 29, 2025
Fight Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes
Audio Version
Overall Grade: B
Information: B
Writing/Organization: B-
Narration: B
Best Aspect: This was more factual than about taking sides. A very detailed telling of the 2024 US Presidential election drama.
Worst Aspect: Some things seem hard to know and stating one of the candidates feelings isn’t something I enjoy hearing from another person.
Recommend: Yes.
Available now, thanks to NetGalley
Audio Version
Overall Grade: B
Information: B
Writing/Organization: B-
Narration: B
Best Aspect: This was more factual than about taking sides. A very detailed telling of the 2024 US Presidential election drama.
Worst Aspect: Some things seem hard to know and stating one of the candidates feelings isn’t something I enjoy hearing from another person.
Recommend: Yes.
Available now, thanks to NetGalley
May 27, 2025
Being a conservative, I was interested on how the authors of this book would "spin" the mental deterioration/cognitive problems of Joe Biden.
The duo only began telling their story round the time of the debate with Donald Trump in June 2024, so the major portion of the failed presidency (2021, 2022, 2023) of Joe Biden was not even mentioned.
The information provided, while in more detail than the public in general would have known (infighting among the staff and those pushing for re-election of severely impaired Joe Biden), it was pretty much what I already knew just from watching FOX news and Newsmax on a regular basis. I guess many people were "surprised", but the whole presidency, in my opinion, was a sham with "who knows" actually running our country.
Would never have purchased this book, adding to the coffers of "so-called journalists" who did not take the time to cover, from the beginning, this failed "president". My copy came from my local library.
The duo only began telling their story round the time of the debate with Donald Trump in June 2024, so the major portion of the failed presidency (2021, 2022, 2023) of Joe Biden was not even mentioned.
The information provided, while in more detail than the public in general would have known (infighting among the staff and those pushing for re-election of severely impaired Joe Biden), it was pretty much what I already knew just from watching FOX news and Newsmax on a regular basis. I guess many people were "surprised", but the whole presidency, in my opinion, was a sham with "who knows" actually running our country.
Would never have purchased this book, adding to the coffers of "so-called journalists" who did not take the time to cover, from the beginning, this failed "president". My copy came from my local library.
April 27, 2025
I read this book for the tell all of a once in a generation election season. I was not disappointed.
This book provides excellent insight into the multiple camps of the election: the crazed Trump party, the Biden loyalists, the Obama/Pelosi coalition, and the Harris groupies. It highlights Biden’s hypocrisy of vowing to be a transition president and then choosing to run for a second term despite his mental decompensation, ultimately to be pushed out by the leaders of the party. It was cringeworthy to learn Obama’s lack of faith in Harris and his push for a reduced primary.
You cannot read finish the book without having sympathy for Kamala as she faced a most impossible task: running as a female of color, assembling a campaign in 104 days, walking the line as a change candidate but promoting Biden’s record, and running against a now seasoned candidate up for his third general election. The book (accurately, in my opinion) portrays her as a victim.
Why only four stars? The book drags at points. The story starts with Biden’s disastrous debate and ends with the November election. This span of roughly 5 months likely does not warrant 290 pages.
All in all, would read if you enjoy political drama and the mindset of the politicians. If any of my Chicago followers want to borrow the book, let me know! @Annie
This book provides excellent insight into the multiple camps of the election: the crazed Trump party, the Biden loyalists, the Obama/Pelosi coalition, and the Harris groupies. It highlights Biden’s hypocrisy of vowing to be a transition president and then choosing to run for a second term despite his mental decompensation, ultimately to be pushed out by the leaders of the party. It was cringeworthy to learn Obama’s lack of faith in Harris and his push for a reduced primary.
You cannot read finish the book without having sympathy for Kamala as she faced a most impossible task: running as a female of color, assembling a campaign in 104 days, walking the line as a change candidate but promoting Biden’s record, and running against a now seasoned candidate up for his third general election. The book (accurately, in my opinion) portrays her as a victim.
Why only four stars? The book drags at points. The story starts with Biden’s disastrous debate and ends with the November election. This span of roughly 5 months likely does not warrant 290 pages.
All in all, would read if you enjoy political drama and the mindset of the politicians. If any of my Chicago followers want to borrow the book, let me know! @Annie
April 5, 2025
Really a 2.5. There's a better book on the subject coming, I hope. First, it's very gossipy as the authors rely almost exclusively on anonymous sources, and we don't know how many. While the first half of the book is interesting as it details the coup against Joe Biden, I get the feeling that the authors are still protecting Kamala Harris. One large example of this is that the authors make it clear that Obama and especially Pelosi did not like Harris, but they offer no explanation for their disdain. This is especially frustrating when it comes to Pelosi because the authors explain that Pelosi representing San Francisco had a front row seat to Harris's political career. The second half is a recap of the campaign, really nothing new to anyone who followed it in real time. The authors, however, completely ignore Tim Walz's compulsive lying and the effect that might have had on the campaign. Walz wasn't going to flip a lot of voters but I thought that he was there to win over undecided, young white males. I don't think he did that. One interesting detail about Walz: he reached out to Pelosi first to offer himself as a VP candidate!
April 10, 2025
Suspension of disbelief
This could have been a really good book if the authors didn't strain it's credibility with so much questionable language. Every word, thought, or action by a Democrat is punctuated with "f*ck" or "f*cking," even when it makes no sense. It's especially telling when the authors read someone's mind and the key word is "f*ck." I would like to believe that the narrative is credible but the total reliance on f-words demands suspension of disbelief.
This could have been a really good book if the authors didn't strain it's credibility with so much questionable language. Every word, thought, or action by a Democrat is punctuated with "f*ck" or "f*cking," even when it makes no sense. It's especially telling when the authors read someone's mind and the key word is "f*ck." I would like to believe that the narrative is credible but the total reliance on f-words demands suspension of disbelief.
May 8, 2025
Not a whole lot here that I didn't know already but still I found it interesting. The revelation that Kamala was intensely negotiating to be on Joe Rogan's show was one of the main things new and different from the official narrative that I heard in this book. Biden doesn't get a kind narrative here at all.
May 23, 2025
Trump is a disaster but the irresponsible inner circle that enabled Biden to run for a second term will live in infamy. Note to VP Harris: you don’t win the presidency by playing defense.
April 19, 2025
Eh, I wish I would’ve skipped this one. It was very repetitive, and you can tell the fact checking was cursory at best. No real new insights in the book if you followed public reporting about the dynamics of the race.
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