Both John McCain and Barack Obama have background stories resplendent with courage and success-stories that highlight all that is best about America. In The Race for the White House 2008, author T.K. White looks at these two very different men and their quests for the highest office in the land. This is an insider's view of the Republican and Democratic strategies that have defined the 2008 campaigns and the role that political consultants have played in shaping politics and public policy. It is a case study of the troubles of the McCain campaign, the problems of its own making as well as those caused by forces beyond the campaign's control, including a deeply troubled economy that sharply drove up home foreclosures in many states. And it provides vivid evidence of the Obama campaign's success in using its money and organizational skills to put Republicans on the defensive in once-safe states.In this election, unlike so many others, the traditional pattern of focusing on the opponent and using underhanded methods has failed. This is a presidential campaign in which various forces including luck, natural political skill, the right-leaning slant of the country and political outmaneuvering have come together to form the most diverse and controversial campaign of our time.White's account provides an original narrative of the behind-the-scenes machinations of the past two years as well as the strategies, the causes and the consequences of The Race for the White House 2008.