Political books play an unusual role in this campaign

Updated 4/1/2004 12:02 AM
Political titles play an unusual role in this campaign
By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY

Books, the oldest of the "old media," are pushing serious issues into the presidential campaign and will remain a powerful force in coming weeks. They're shoving aside cable news networks and flashy Web sites, the "new media" it was fashionable to think would dominate political reporting.

9/11 Commission member James Thompson reviews Richard Clarke's book Against All Enemies before Clarke's testimony to the panel.
J. Scott Applewhite, AP

The influential role that serious, issues-based books are playing is unusual, historians and political scientists say. "I can't think of anything close to this happening during a campaign, at least in the 20th century," says James Campbell, a political science professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

The hottest book is Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror by Richard Clarke. The counterterrorism expert served in the Reagan, Clinton and both Bush administrations. He says the current administration paid too little attention to the threat of terrorism before Sept. 11 and made terrorism more of a threat by going to war in Iraq.

The book debuts today at No. 1 on USA TODAY's list of best-selling books. Already, 600,000 copies are in print.

Next: Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward, the Watergate-era icon of The Washington Post. It's due to be excerpted in the Post on April 18. That night, Woodward will be on another member of the "old media" club ?- CBS' 60 Minutes, where Clarke also appeared.

It's being touted by the publisher, Simon & Schuster, as a "definitive ... behind-the-scenes" account of how the White House planned and managed the Iraq war. Two White House officials said they are concerned about the book, which they expect will reveal internal disagreements about the decision to go to war.

Influential books published earlier this year include:

•Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War, by historian Douglas Brinkley. Kerry's supporters say Tour shows he has the military experience to be commander in chief. Opponents say the tales of Kerry's anti-war efforts raise questions about his judgment.

•The Price of Loyalty, by journalist Ron Suskind. In Price, Paul O'Neill, former Bush Treasury secretary, says the administration was determined from the time it took office to go after Saddam Hussein.

Why are books selling and driving the news? "They mirror the polarized, energized nature of the nation," says Basil Talbott, a journalism lecturer at the University of Iowa. "People want to read and hear about these issues."

Interest is also rising because other media ?- particularly cable news channels ?- are desperate for content. "It's the age of the 24-hour, seven-days-a-week news cycle," says Charlotte Grimes, political reporting professor at Syracuse University. "Books like these can get picked up and discussed by the other media and recycled and recycled."

One book out this week doesn't fit the mold of the others. Ten Minutes from Normal by Bush confidante Karen Hughes is more a memoir of her work for Bush than a look at policy. But the book may still influence political debate. It is likely to be cited by Bush's supporters touting what they see as his steady leadership style. And Hughes' book tour will provide chances to rebut Clarke's allegations.