Spanking the donkey
Subtitle: dispatches from the dumb season
By: Matt Taibbi ; illustrations by David Rees.
Publisher: New Press; Distributed by W.W. Norton
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 331
Subjects: Taibbi, Matt; Presidents -- United States -- Election -- 2004; Political campaigns -- United States; Deception -- Political aspects -- United States; Journalists -- United States -- Biography; United States -- Politics and government -- 2001-
Genres: Biography.
Description: "Working as a correspondent for the New York Press, The Nation, and Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi has close-up access to the Democratic primary for the 2004 presidential election: a seat on John Kerry's campaign plane, a face-to-face encounter with the pancake makeup of John Edwards, enough Howard Dean press conferences to memorize the good doctor's stump speech by heart, and, by way of contrast, a two-month undercover stint working for the republicans in Orlando, Florida. But the closer he gets to the candidates, the more pompous and vapid they appear."

"Taibbi fulfills his responsibilities as a serious campaign reporter with frequent bouts of blind panic, sad attempts to cope with drugs, and the donning of a gorilla suit; in addition, as he follows the dog-and-pony show around the country, he forgoes lavish journalists' watering holes in favor of hostels and halfway houses. Such devices allow our protagonist to register, with sharpness and mounting anxiety, the gaping canyon that divides swaths of sane working Americans from the political phonies who purport to represent them."--Jacket.
Table of contents: title: Iraqt-up!: at the D.C. Rallies, a few hundred thousand go missing; title: Spring/summer 2003. Cleaning the pool ; On board ; Wired, tapped ; May day, may day ; Heads of industry ; Elongate thy foe; title: Dean-a-palooza: a front-runner takes to the skies; title: Campaign diaries; title: Fall/winter 2003-2004. The influence of reality television ; One penis, under god ; Stuffed on Thanksgiving ; Fascism is the answer ; Prickless for president ; Odd man in; title: Feed the beast; title: Spring/summer 2004. You say you want a tivo-lution? ; Memories of John ; I confess ; Donkey. Elephant. Chicken. ; Bin Laden speaks out ; A closer look at John Kerry's acceptance speech --; title: Bush like me: through the looking-glass into the other America; title: Wimblehack!. Round 1: The competition begins ; Round 2: The gorm turns ; Round 3: The herd thins ; Round 4: And then there were two ; The sad end; title: The next step: why the blue states are blue.