New Releases by Dan Balz

From the bestselling author of The Battle for America 2008 and longtime Washington Post correspondent, an inside view and analysis of the Obama-Romney presidential race In 2008 a bright young candidate triumphed on a theme of change and hope. Four years later an embattled President struggled against an apocalyptically divided and divisive Congress, a war that won’t end, and an economy that casts a dark penumbra over every spark of good news. His opponent, a well-heeled businessman who couldn''t seem to stand on his own business record, withstood unexpected and extreme opposition to capture the nomination of a party whose main platform and principles with which he was historically and fundamentally at odds. The 2012 Election, once predicted to be a boring run at a popular President, took on a new urgency with the infamous 2010 midterm shellacking and equally infamous Citizen United ruling, and delivered drama and tension as the Republicans tried to reconcile the factions at war within their party and Democrats faced the tsunami of super Pac money flooding local and regional elections. As with his last book, The Battle for America 2008, Washington Post correspondent Dan Balz uses a combination of superb sources and long, deep reporting experience to take us both deep inside and far beyond Campaign HQs in Chicago and Boston. He tracks the nuances of Beltway politics and the thinking behind the scenes to show how Obama regained his footing, and to speculate about whether this election actually did anything to change the toxically poisonous atmosphere inside the Beltway, the increasing hostility and disenchantment with politicians outside, and the frightening effect of the torrent of money being poured out by special-interest groups beholden to no voter or law? Will there be anything in this election that will heal the political process in America? Special highlights include two much talked-about post-election interviews with Romney and Christie which have been making headlines, as well as a new afterword.

The Inside Story of the 2012 Presidential Campaign The presidential campaign of 2012 was one of the closest and most fierce, expensive, and unpredictable in our history, and Washington Post senior political correspondent Dan Balz chronicled every twist. Obama vs. Romney is a collection of 50 dispatches from the campaign trail, by one the preeminent political journalists of our times. Balz recounts the back-and-forth slugfest of 2012 in a single seamless narrative, including his hundreds of interviews with behind-the-scenes players who crafted both Obama’s scorched-earth re-election game plan and Romney’s audacious strategy for unseating a president. The result is a complete inside story of the campaign from the early days in both parties, through the dramatic ending that wasn’t written until the very last hours of the election.

The bestselling, truly gripping account of 2008''s landmark election, updated through 2009 The election of 2008 shattered political barriers and ignited an extraordinary battle among some of the most formidable political rivals ever to seek the presidency. Now, Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson, two of America''s most respected journalists, offer the first complete picture of the strategies-and singular personalities- that accompanied the candidates'' first forays into Iowa and New Hampshire through Obama''s historic victory on Election Night. Filled with insider details, this riveting, wholly nonpartisan account of the historic election will capture the attention of everyone who witnessed it, as well as future generations who wished they had. A Washington Post and L.A. Times Best Book of the Year.