{"product_id":"2940169235210","title":"The Big Enchilada","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSix years ago he owned a baseball team. Now he's the leader of the free world. \u003ci\u003eThe Big Enchilada\u003c\/i\u003e is a comic anthem to the wild and improbable crusade that propelled George W. Bush into the White House and to the close-knit group of Texans who made it happen, written by \"the Bush campaign's Renaissance man\" (\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e magazine).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriter and political strategist Stuart Stevens has been hailed by Martin Amis as \"the perfect companion: brave, funny, and ever-watchful,\" and \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e has praised him for having \"a wonderful eye for the curiosities of human behavior.\" Here he tells the surprisingly funny, adrenaline-fueled story of the Bush campaign the public never saw-from the Austin coffee shop where Stevens watched Karl Rove sketch out the Republican master plan on a napkin to the small Methodist church in Crawford, Texas, where the blue-jeaned future president prepared for the make-or-break debates that no one expected him to win. He offers the inside view of the rise and flameout of maverick John McCain; the struggle to come up with a message that could be heard over a booming economy (\"Times have never been better. Vote for change,\" campaign aides joked); and the fierce debates over the upside and downside of \"going negative\" against a vulnerable adversary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAbove all, Stevens turns the familiar political tale of disillusionment on its head. From the moment he arrived in Austin to join the campaign-\"Stevens, get in here and let's bond!\" the governor said-he discovered the peculiar pleasure of working with people who not only respected and admired their candidate but actually \"liked\" him. They faced formidable obstacles, from a nation surfing a vast wave of peace and prosperity to an experienced opponent whose seasoned advisers bragged that the campaign would be \"a slaughterhouse.\" But Texans, as Stevens learned, are a confident bunch, and the Bush crowd remained convinced they would win the biggest prize of all-even on the brink of losing. This is the story of what it was like as only an insider could tell it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47104395215088,"sku":"2940169235210","price":17.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940169235210_p0.jpg?v=1763769166","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940169235210","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}