The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies - Softcover

"Common-sense politics devolve into a season of craziness in this engrossing account of the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign. Journalist Alter follows up his bestselling The Promise: President Obama, Year One with a savvy dissection of the 2010-2012 election cycle and related political dogfights....Lucid, entertaining, and alive to the reality behind the posturing, Alter's report reveals the high stakes and far-reaching import of the 2012 decision." * Publishers Weekly, Starred Review * "A calm, virtuoso work of journalism. Alter brings a clear eye to recognizing both the shortcomings and the victories of the 2012 Obama campaign and the administration before and after the election.... one of the best books about our befuddling, original, American version of democracy." * The New York Daily News * "Alter's book abounds in such peeks inside the competing campaigns...excellent reporting." * Los Angeles Times * "Highly informed, energetically reported.... Alter gives us a lucid picture of the toxic, highly partisan political environment in which today's controversies are occurring." * The New York Times *

In The Center Holds, Jonathan Alter provides the first full account of America at the crossroads. With exclusive reporting and rare historical insight, he pierces the bubble of the White House and the presidential campaigns in a landmark election that marked the return of big money and the rise of big data. He tells the epic story of an embattled president fighting back with the first campaign of the Digital Age. Alter relates the untold story behind Obama's highs and lows, from the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound to the frustration of the debt ceiling fiasco to his unexpected run-ins with black and Latino activists. Alter takes us inside Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan's Boston campaign as well as Obama's disastrous preparation for the first debate. We meet Obama's analytics geeks working out of "The Cave" and the man who secretly videotaped Romney's infamous comments on the "47 percent." The Center Holdsdeepens our understanding of the Obama presidency and the future of the country.