Kirkus
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The unmaking of the president. Joe Biden fans will find this one tough to take. In Allen and Parnes’ account, Biden’s “naked egotism” spoiled the Democrats’ chances to beat Republican Donald Trump. The 46th president’s “original sin” was seeking reelection in his 80s, a party insider tells the co-authors. After his disastrous debate against Trump, Biden compounded the Dems’ problems by waiting weeks to leave the race. “In both cases,” the authors write, “he misread the writing on the wall.” The seasoned Washington reporters toggle between the parties, a sensible approach that feels fresh amid a sustained onslaught of Trump-centric books. Though their chapters about Trump’s running-mate search, his entreaties to Gen Z bros, and the two attempts on his life aren’t revelatory, they pen a fascinating postmortem of Biden’s campaign. His team routinely kept him distant from voters, making his halting debate performance even more startling. Afterward, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “began to think that the country needed to be saved notby Biden, butfrom him,” they write. Barack Obama, meanwhile, favored a “mini-primary” to replace Biden. This was “Obama’s way of trying to kneecap” Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he, like Pelosi, didn’t want atop the ticket. Yet Biden, who “resented” Obama’s support of Hillary Clinton over him in the 2016 Democratic race, endorsed Harris as his successor, in part “to stick it to Obama,” a party insider says. Once nominated, Harris didn’t adequately explain “her reason for running,” the authors argue, deferring to Biden’s “admonition” that she shouldn’t distance herself from his administration. Allen and Parnes aren’t above lazy sexism, invokingMean Girls to pigeonhole an assertive woman and to note that Pelosi’s bra strap was showing during a TV appearance. But they deliver a riveting narrative of a crucial power struggle. Dishy scoops fuel a comprehensive account of a historic election. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.