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The one account you won't want to miss.From the bestselling author and television commentator comes a brilliant, hilarious, incisive look at just what happened on Election Night, and after.

"Circumstances have changed dramatically since I first called you."
- Al Gore to George W. Bush, November 8, 2000

Few people know the absurdities of American politics better than Jeff Greenfield, CNN's award-winning political and media analyst. Now for all those millions of Americans who are still trying to figure out how we ended up with America's closest, craziest election, Greenfield takes us behind the scenes to explore Election Night 2000 and its tumultuous aftermath in all their surreal glory.From November 7th itself and its famous media flipflops ("Oh, waiter!" Greenfield proclaimed aloud, "One order of crow!") to its hard-fought finale, he leads us through and Alice-in-Wonderland world of butterfly ballots and pregnant chads, shifting deadlines and Doomsday Scenarios, lawyers, recounts, spin doctors, demonstrations, felons and faithless electors. It is an exceptional work of commentary and living history, destined to be a political classic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Good Analysis of the 2000 Election
Jeff Greenfield is one of the most knowledgeable observers of the American political scene, and looks back at the 2000 presidential election in "Oh, Waiter!One Order of Crow!".Greenfield demonstrates how political history is influenced by numerous factors, and shows that had any one of several incidents in the weeks, months, and years before November 7, 2000 gone differently, the election would probably not have come down to a razor-thin decision in Florida.

This book is not simply a retelling of the post-election Florida saga, as Bill Sammon's At Any Cost is.Greenfield looks at the issues of the 2000 campaign, the voters' impressions of the candidates, and recalls both the primary campaign and the fall campaign and debates.The author describes the blown calls on Election Night, and unconvincingly attempts to defend the networks' calling of state victories for Gore much more rapidly than comparable ones for Bush.Greenfield outlines the arguments of both the Bush and Gore teams during the Florida episode, and shows the frame of mind both camps were in during that process.

Greenfield's great sense of humor makes frequent appearances in this retrospective of Election 2000, and political junkies will be glad they invested the time in reading this entertaining volume.

I Loved It....Good, Unbiased Account of Election 2000
It would be easy to dismiss this book by Jeff Greenfield, former field worker for Democrat Bobby Kennedy and political analyst on the Clinton News Network (CNN). It would also be wrong, because this book is hilarious and a serious treatment of the issues of the 2000 Election simultaneously.

I must commend Greenfield for being one of the few analysts who - on the written paper - spelled out his thoughts that Bush had the election in the bag from the earliest hours of the Florida debacle. Had Vice President Gore read Greenfield's points, the entire country could have been spared the 36 day ordeal and who knows how many millions in attorney's fees.

Greenfield is a worthy successor to the old Jack Germond/Jules Witcover series which itself was a worthy successor to the Theodore H. White series of books, "The Making of the President." He recounts in vivid detail the back and forth shock of Election Night 2000 - the only night in American history where the networks somehow got the winner of the election wrong not once but twice.

I can see how a Gore supporter might think the book is biased against Gore though I disagree with that assessment. It points out Gore's biggest liability - exaggeration - and makes the valid point that Gore's exaggeration as well as his demonstrated arrogance cost him the first debate and may well have cost him the election. Greenfield also shows what Republicans knew - the nomination of George W. Bush was a foregone conclusion as have all been ALL GOP nominations since 1968 (with the possible exception of 1976 - but that caveat comes from Ford having not been elected by the voters).

Greenfield covers McCain (the maverick who is conservative but not radical) and Bradley, pointing out that Bradley missed a vital exchange that could have altered the Democratic race. But the best part of the book is the conclusion.

Greenfield demonstrates - rightly so, might I add - that regardless of what the US Supreme Court would rule and regardless what was done - Bush had Gore beaten in every possible way. The governor's office as well as the Secretary of State's office (Katherine Harris) were in Republican hands and the Supreme Court had a conservative majority. On top of that, all Congress under GOP control would have had to do was not accept the Gore electors even if Gore had won. Gore was simply beaten in every constitutional way possible despite his slight edge in the popular vote.

Greenfield also points out some of the Republican hypocrisy: after all, it was presumed by many in the Bush camp that Gore might win the election without winning the popular vote. Yet when just the opposite happened, the Bush cry became constitution over what they (on the previous Friday) had called 'the will of the people.' Suffice it to say that there were no angels on either side of the debate.

I hope Greenfield writes a 2004 tome. It would surely be interesting if it's anything like this one. Get it and enjoy.

very relevant, wonderfully funny, full of great insights
great fun to be reading this book at the start of the 2004 campaign -- so many of its insights about the personalities, the parties, the processes that shaped the 2000 election seem as pertinent today as they did when first written a few years ago. Greenfield is a peerless writer with extraodinarily dry wit and a priceless ability to find just the right concise anecdote to summarize what others might take long chapters to chronicle.He appers even-handed -- a partisan for only intelligence and common sense, in his coverage of the respective campaigns, election night, and the 37-day aftermath. No one interested in politics will fail to find enlightenment and entertainment in this charming, timeless volume.Although I have become addicted to the 'blogosphere' and rarely look to tv for news and commentary, Jeff Greenfield's appearances on the tube would provide a rare excuse for me to turn on the tv again.

The best book about the 2000 election available
So many political books nowadays cater to one particular idealogy or another.This is a book that can be received by both left-wingers and right-wingers.For a CNN analyst, Greenfield is surprising down-the-middle, focusing on both candidates strengths and weaknesses, and giving us his own perspectives on the fiasco as it happened.The wit he includes in the book is dry but extremely well-done.If I ever have to teack about the 2000 Election in a college classroom, without a doubt this would be the book I'd use.

Mediocre review of the events of the election
I've read *At Any Cost* before.This time, I thought, it might be interesting to read a review of the election resolution by someone who wasn't displaying his bias on every page.I respect Jeff Greenfield as a journalist, because he comes the closest of just about any of them out there to staying objective and removing his preferences from his reporting.And besides, most of the other books on this subject have a clear bias.

I must say that that is exactly what I got.I was amazed how objectively he managed to report on the events, especially when it came to the "We want every vote counted," vs. "They're devining the intent of the voters."You could believe that he really did see some merit on both sides; in fact, he seemed frustrated that the politicians he interviewed could not.If the only reporting in this book were on the events of the election, he'd get a four or five star review from me.

Where his bias creeps in is when he explains how the two bad calls of Florida occurred.It is as though he is telling the reader, "Don't be too hard on us.After all, who would have EVER thought such a fluke could have occurred."I do believe that if it were up to Jeff Greenfield, there would be no cause for regret at all.It was fate that led to the press calling Florida twice when it never should have been called at all!

He argues, rather persuasively in fact, that calling Florida before all the polls in Florida were closed didn't change the outcome at all.And he may be right, but I think it would be hard to prove definitively either way, and even if it were true, it doesn't justify calling it when they did at all.

As a conservative, while I wish neither call had been made, I have always thought that that was the bigger faux paus.I don't really believe that the final call after most of the apathetic public had retired for the night truly persuaded them that Bush won.As a Bush supporter, while I hoped it would come out that way, when the closeness of the vote became clear, I didn't know who won.I disregarded the media call when they said it was no longer certain.And initially, before ridiculous things like holding the cards up looking for light to peak through were done, I thought a recount was only reasonable.The call in the wee hours of the morning didn't convince me of the outcome; the mechanical recount did.I think most of the public does enough thinking not to just decide Bush won because the press called it too soon.

But it was clear that the only call Jeff Greenfield worried much about was the last one.The fact that the voting in Florida wasn't over before they called it the first time was no big deal.I don't expect Jeff Greenfield, or anyone who would prefer in his or her heart for Gore to have won to share my emotions about it.I simply think that they should acknowledge that whether it affected the Florida results or not, it SHOULDN'T have been done, and was something the powers that be that called it should lose a little sleep over.

Another reason why I give this book three stars is that it just didn't grip me clear through.I started out engrossed in the book but found that the last fifty pages or so really started to drag.I finished the book, but I'm not really sure why I made myself do so.I guess I felt like his perspective on the final days of how it wound down didn't really offer anything to provoke consideration that hadn't already been discussed before.I think the point at which it started to drag was after he covered what each side was saying in the aftermath of the recounts. ... Read more

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Title: Cruising Into History: a Pilgrimage to Haiti.(African-American History)
Author: Ron (American presidential candidate) Daniels
Publication: The Black Collegian (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2004
Publisher: iMinorities, Inc.
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Title: Her Excellency: An Oral History of American Women Ambassadors.
Author: Robert P. Watson
Publication: Presidential Studies Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 1997
Publisher: Center for the Study of the Presidency
Volume: v27Issue: n4Page: p865(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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Title: Healing in the history of Christianity presidential address, January 2002 American Society of Church History.
Author: Amanda Porterfield
Publication: Church History (Refereed)
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