Cited on C-Span by Douglas Brinkley (of all people) as the greatest piece of writing on the phenomenon of political campaigning, Hunter S. Thompson's chronicle of the 1972 election focuses early on the Democratic primary process (as the incumbent party, the Republicans did little in the primary season) to the DNC convention in Florida. After that, he reports on the McGovern campaign implosion, Watergate, and the final re-election of Nixon, interspersed with classic HST moments from a drunken strategy discussion poolside with Pat Buchanan to jumping the fence to go swimming after hours at the Watergate hotel while right above him the DNC headquarters were being broken into.

It is classic Hunter S. Thompson, with amazing access to the real political action. ( )

Is it just me or did this book remind anyone of the 2004 election? A beatable, unpopular incumbent who nevertheless defeats an inept opponent that squanders good will and multiple opportunities for success. ( )

This book can be pretty tedious at times and the reader often gets bogged down in the details. But, above all of this the narrative voice of HST shines through especially when the campaign is winding down. As I read this book during the primary season of 2008, I could not help but think about how similar things are during the book as compared to now. The apathy of the voters, the scripted speeches, the madness of running across the country looking for votes. Actually, to be specific this book was more like the 2004 election or any election where the incumbent was able to sway public opinion based on their decisions. Stick through the election details parts and you will be rewarded with tales such as the Zoo Plane and HST reporting from the Super Bowl. ( )

Hunter S. Thompson cuts through the curtains obscuring the American political process. Forgoing journalistic impartiality, Thompson throws himself into the 1972 presidential campaign firmly behind George McGovern. Thanks to this Thompson presents a bizarre outsider's view from inside of the most lopsided election in American history. Thankfully, Thompson's legendary cynicism turned out to be misplaced. Nixon got his in the end, after all. ( )

My familiarity with Hunter Thompson's writing to this point has mainly been based off of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and various articles about sports and motorcycles. I always thought of him as a talented if maniacal writer. What engrossed me about campaign trail was his utter fluency in the political world of his time and his almost touching concern, pessimistic as it may be, for the health of the American political system.

A key tension in the book seems to be between Hunters desire to be objective/his belief that in the end all politicians will disappoint and his developing belief that George McGovern would actually make a decent president. It is amazing how much access the McGovern campaign, and george himself gave Hunter for his Bi-Monthly dispatches to Rolling Stone (from which the book is cobbled), and this access seems to have bound Thompson personally to the candidate, and probobly even more personally to the campaign's political director Frank Mankiewicz.

Given to course of history the last half of the book is a downer. After the first half, which chronicles the McGovern campaigns underdog success in the primaries, and the political machinations that won him the nomination at the convention, it is painful, for both Thompson and the reader to watch McGovern fall apart right out of the gate and end up loosing to Nixon in the second worst landslide in history. (McGovern lost in every state but Massachusetts and the DIstrict of Columbia). The post-mortem for the campaign (conducted in interview form with the books editor because Thompson was unable to finish the book on time) is thorough includeing statistics from the McGovern Campaign's own pollster and a twelve page transcript of an interview with George McGovern himself.

In the end Campaign Trail is a monumental work, if somewhat depressing.