Primer on the Nominees
KELLEN, KONRAD
Primer on the Nominees Hats in the Ring. By Malcolm Moos and Stephen Hess. Random House. 194 pp. $3.50. Revieived by Konrad Kellen Staff member, Radio Free Europe NOTHING MORE can be said...
...The book explains the complicated process of nominations today and gives a historical review of them, going all the way back to the earliest days of Presidential elections...
...Naturally, the average citizen can contribute only very little to the nomination of his favorite man, but it may be assumed that the average person does not do what little he can...
...Hats in the Ring is also enlivened by a dozen interesting old political cartoons...
...At present, there seems to be a growing alienation between the electorate and the political machinery which selects the candidate...
...One party in particular seems to be plagued by great frustration, with many of its followers halfheartedly supporting one candidate "because he can win," while really preferring another candidate "because he is the best man...
...As a result, a surprisingly large number of people of both parties submit with a sigh to the "inevitable" choices of their parties: they say that they will, of course, vote for the candidate put up by their party but that, frankly, they do not see why men of higher caliber cannot be found to run the country...
...This is an unfortunate state of affairs and detrimental to the democratic process...
...Revieived by Konrad Kellen Staff member, Radio Free Europe NOTHING MORE can be said about this attractive little primer on U. S. Presidential nominations than that the authors provide a factual and instructive survey of how a man becomes a nominee for the highest office in the United States...
...It also analyzes the attributes that make for a likely candidate, and re-tells in entertaining fashion some of the behind-the-scene maneuvers of past conventions...
...Hats in the Ring shows people that the nominating machinery is something which they should use to better advantage if they really want to elect the President they want to sit in the White House...
...The possible importance of the book may be found in the fact that it serves as a reminder to citizens that they can at least try to participate in nominating their favorite candidate...
Vol. 43 • June 1960 • No. 26
