BOOK REVIEW
CAMPAIGN READING
By Michael Jablonski Law Office of Michael Jablonski michael . jablonski @ comcast . net
II am asked every four years for suggestions about what to read in order to understand the wacky way we select a President . I cannot say “ elect a President ” because ordinary voters pick electors in November under the system established in Article II , Section 1 of the U . S . Constitution . The actual presidential election takes place on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December , as required by 3 U . S . C . § 7 , when the 16 electors selected for Georgia in November meet under the gold dome . The votes are recorded in six certificates signed by all the electors , 3 U . S . C . § 9 , that are sent separately to the President of the Senate , the Georgia Secretary of State ( who must keep them at least a year for public inspection ), the Archivist of the United States ( two copies ), and the chief judge of the federal district court . 3 U . S . C . § 11 .
The Twentieth Amendment
At 1:00 in the afternoon of January 6 , the current Vice President convenes a joint session of Congress in the Hall of the House of Representatives to open the certificates from each state , in alphabetical order , to certify the election . 3 U . S . C . § 15 . Barack Obama and Joe Biden cease to hold their offices , according to the Twentieth Amendment , at precisely noon on January 20 . Their successors , having been chosen by electors in each state on December 19 , immediately take office .
New Government
The historic and ceremony-filled process leading to the establishment of a new government is just one way in which American democracy is aberrant when compared to that of other countries . The election system employed here does not meet international standards , as is often pointed out by various organizations from other countries that come to monitor the transparency and fairness of our elections . ( The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has monitored every US election since 2002 .) Making sense of our elections and politics can be overwhelming .
Gonzo Journalism
There are many excellent books analyzing our political system , but many tend to be dry and pedantic . I want to highlight fun to read works that convey the drama and humor of elections . Hunter Thompson ’ s Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’ 72 remains one of the best narratives of an election campaign . Thompson wrote serialized pieces for Rolling Stone during the Nixon-McGovern election that were later collected by Straight Arrow Books in this volume . Embedded early with the McGovern campaign , Thompson delivers withering commentary on the mendacity that seems to infuse politics . The book remains an outstanding example of gonzo journalism .
Filtered Information
What you think that you know about politics is mediated . Unless you are able to actively participate in a campaign , the information you receive is filtered by reporters and editors ( and increasingly by bloggers ). The Boys on the Bus , by Timothy Crouse , captures the mentality of the press corps leading a life of constant travel , constant deadlines , and a constant need to file something – anything – that might make for good reading over morning coffee . Crouse wrote about how the press actually covered the 1972 election not by analyzing their output but by reporting what journalists actually do based on observations in their natural habitats . The way that the press covers candidates has changed . The press corps is no longer largely male . Laptops , smartphones , and tablets long ago replaced typewriters and dictating stories over landline phones . The sensibility of covering campaigns , however , endures . Crouse ’ s book entertains while communicating a sense of the problems faced by reporters .
Buckley
I might be the sole fan of the next book . The Unmaking of a Mayor by William F . Buckley , Jr ., details Buckley ’ s impossibly hopeless campaign for New York mayor in 1966 . ( In his now famous announcement speech Buckley stated that if elected
16 May 2016