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The Front Runner

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The Front Runner

By: Matt Bai
Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
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About this listen

In May 1987, Colorado Senator Gary Hart - a dashing, reform-minded Democrat - seemed a lock for the party's presidential nomination and led George H. W. Bush by double digits in the polls. Then, in one tumultuous week, rumours of marital infidelity and a newspaper's stakeout of Hart's home resulted in a media frenzy the likes of which had never been seen before.

Through the magnificently reported story of the Senator's fall from grace, Matt Bai, former chief political correspondent for The New York Times Magazine, shows the Hart affair to be far more than one man's tragedy: rather, it marked a crucial turning point in the ethos of political media - and, by extension, of politics itself. At a moment when the definitions of 'breaking news' and 'newsworthiness' were being rewritten by new technologies and a changing culture, Hart fell first victim to the new norms of life in the public eye.

The Front Runner (originally published as All the Truth is Out) is a tour de force on the American way of politics at the highest level, one that changes our understanding of how we elect our presidents and how the bedrock of American values has shifted under our feet.

©2018 Matt Bai (P)2018 Penguin Random House Australia Americas Elections & Political Process Political Science Politics & Government United States Democrat
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Much better than the movie. It delivered on what the movie trailer promised. And interesting account of the fall of politics and media.

Good read sad story

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An intriguing exploration into the events that halted the aspirations of Presidential candidate Gary Hart. Read well and easy to follow.

Very, very good

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I did not enjoy the movie, but the book is far better and offers an interesting perspective (whether you agree with it, or not) on why political reporting changed, why Hart was a victim of that change and how politics has adjusted.
The book stops at the Obama campaign and , while I did not agree with everything the author said, I would have been interested to hear his views on the Trump campaign.

Book is better than the movie

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