The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies Hardcover - 2013

The election of 2012 will be remembered as a hinge of history. With huge victories in the 2010 midterm elections the Republican Party had blocked President Obama at every turn and made plans to wrench the country sharply to the right. 2012 offered the GOP a clear shot at controlling all three branches of government and repealing much of the social contract dating back to the New Deal. Facing free-spending billionaires, Fox News, and a concerted effort in 19 states to tilt the election by suppressing Democratic votes, Obama repelled the assault and navigated the nation back to the center.

In The Center Holds, Jonathan Alter produces the first full account of America at the crossroads. With exclusive reporting and rare historical insight, he pierces the bubble of the White House and the presidential campaigns in a landmark election that marked the return of big money and the rise of big data. He tells the epic story of an embattled president fighting back with the first campaign of the Digital Age.

Alter relates the untold story behind ObamaâÈçs highs and lows, from the raid on Osama bin LadenâÈçs compound to the frustration of the debt ceiling fiasco to his unexpected run-ins with black and Latino activists. There are fresh details about the Koch brothers, Grover Norquist, Roger Ailes, and the online haters who suffer from âÈêObama Derangement Syndrome.âÈë Alter takes us inside Mitt Romney and Paul RyanâÈçs Boston campaign as well as ObamaâÈçs disastrous preparation for the first debate. We meet ObamaâÈçs analytics geeks working out of âÈêThe CaveâÈë and the man who secretly videotaped RomneyâÈçs infamous comments on the âÈê47 percent.âÈë

The Center Holds will deepen our understanding of the Obama presidency, the stakes of the 2012 election, and the future of the country.

Details

• Title The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies
• Author Jonathan Alter
• Binding Hardcover
• Edition F First Edition
• Pages 448
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher Simon & Schuster, New York, N. Y.
• Date 2013-06-04
• Illustrated Yes
• ISBN 9781451646078 / 1451646070
• Weight 1.65 lbs (0.75 kg)
• Dimensions 9.4 x 6.6 x 1.5 in (23.88 x 16.76 x 3.81 cm)
• Library of Congress subjects Presidents - United States, Obama, Barack
• Library of Congress Catalog Number 2013010505
• Dewey Decimal Code 973.932