Surely as spring follows winter, the 2004 election is about to spawn a veritable library of new books, analyzing, immortalizing, reprising and rehashing the November outcome.
As USA Today reports today, just about anybody with any connection to the campaign is now sitting in front of a computer screen pouring out their souls.
So, how to differentiate your take on the vote and the ensuing political landscape from all those others vying for shelf space at Borders?
Reporter Jill Lawrence writes that Steve Jarding and Dave “Mudcat” Saunders, strategists who helped Democrat Mark Warner become governor of red-state Virginia in 2001, will co-author a “bare-knuckled” primer for Democrats seeking to win in the South and the heartland. “Various chapters will instruct candidates on how to handle issues such as God, guns, gays, national security and the Confederate flag.”
What we like best about the Jarding-Saunders effort, however, is its gimmick: A country music CD in addition to the punditry. The CD’s title song — still in the works — will be Foxes in the Henhouse, which also happens to be the book’s title. (Frankly, we’d have preferred Hens in the Foxhouse, but what do we know about elections or creating best-sellers?)
This did get us to thinking about the possibilities of Nashville interpreting politics. (This could become a trend. After all, country singer and author Kinky Friedman is running for governor of Texas.) In case some of the authors cited by USA Today are still looking for catchy book titles (and theme songs), this handy list might offer some inspiration:
You Done Tore Out My Heart And Stomped That Sucker Flat, I’m Just A Bug On The Windshield Of Life, and, our favorite, which seems to sum up much of the 2004 campaign: I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well.
–Susan Q. Stranahan
Susan Q. Stranahan wrote for CJR.