The big enchilada
Subtitle: campaign adventures with the cockeyed optimists from Texas who won the biggest prize in politics
By: Stuart Stevens.
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 298
Subjects: Bush, George W. 1946-; Bush, George W. 1946- -- Friends and associates; Stevens, Stuart; Presidents -- United States -- Election -- 2000; Political campaigns -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Political consultants -- United States -- Biography; United States -- Politics and government -- 1993-2001
Genres: Biography.
Description: "Stuart Stevens tells the story of the Bush campaign the public never saw - from the Austin coffee shop where Stevens watched Karl Rove sketch out the Republican master plan on a napkin to the small Methodist church in Crawford, Texas, where the blue-jeaned future president prepared for the make-or-break debates that no one expected him to win.

He offers the inside view of the rise and flameout of maverick John McCain; the struggle to come up with a message that could be heard over a booming economy ("Times have never been better. Vote for change," campaign aides joked); and the fierce debates over the upside and downside of "going negative" against a vulnerable adversary.".

"Above all, Stevens turns the familiar political tale of disillusionment on its head. From the moment he arrived in Austin to join the campaign - "Stevens, get in here and let's bond!" the governor said - he discovered the peculiar pleasure of working with people who not only respected and admired their candidate but actually liked him.

They faced formidable obstacles, from a nation surfing a vast wave of peace and prosperity to an experienced opponent whose seasoned advisers bragged that the campaign would be "a slaughterhouse." But Texans, as Stevens learned, are a confident bunch, and the Bush crowd remained convinced they would win the biggest prize of all - even on the brink of losing. This is the story of what it was like as only an insider could tell it."--BOOK JACKET.