Watched the announcement of the announcement of the book awards live on cspan2 on november 16. Member of these authors have appeared or will be appearing on book tv. You can watch them on our website, booktv. Org. Next up, former white house president ial events director josh king talks about his book, off script and advanced mans guide to white house stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle and political suicide. Mitchell switch, andrew frank and steve are, swaggering advancement who loom the craft on watcher mondales campaign served as my role models. They were the democratics answer to michael during the summer of 1988 and they taught me well. Schwartz was a lead advancement brimming with selfconfidence, and quick humor. [applause]. Was that selfserving and not by the way, i had to read that. Whos out here claimed that he was his mentor but in the book he got four pages that was known as a great teacher. So just to be clear on that. Josh is a good buddy and a good friend and a lot of people worked with him and me, we worked on Democratic Politics together so it is slicing everybody. Josh has written an interesting book that most of you have bought in. He said that he would sign everybodys. The tv, tv has changed politics dramatically. Just a quick couple of examples of that. In 1960 the famous debate of nicks and versus kennedy, a lot of people said when they heard it on radio they thought that nixon had one. But they watched the tv version they thought kennedy one he looked younger, he was shaven resnick said look like he had this 5 00 oclock shadow and stuff. So that was that was a little bit the dawn of the tv era. Throughout the campaign in the last 50 years, the betrayal of the candidates through their Campaign Stops in through tv has made a tremendous difference. There are examples and i will give you quick three. Our former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger when he wanted to abolish something he did this huge event where he had a car literally destroyed. Remember this at all . During the campaign . It was such an extreme example but it got a ton of attention. He said we we are going to abolish the car tax so we destroyed a car, im not not sure what exactly had to do but thats what he did. Bill clinton who probably didnt more work for than anyone he did something where he was dedicating and not monument in utah or designating land to be under the management terms which means its limited to how much building and other things he could do. He did not put up banners or anything, what he did was set up a nice wooden table and there was a gorgeous view of the whole area. You at that event . And so that was an example of just letting the pitcher speak for himself. He didnt put up banners, signs, he didnt put up banners, signs, he didnt have to build anything. You had the beauty of this wonderful wilderness area behind him and that was a gorgeous shot. Cut to the selection. Whats we we remember about some of the visuals . Not a ton but donald trump, what he would do was come in on this big huge plane which was supposed to revoke well thats how he flies around, but it was supposed to evoke air force one. Or when he announced and he came down the escalator, this is a picture of it grander. So the theatrics of campaigns are more and more important. Josh stayed with it became one of the experts in one of the best people added and learned a lot from folks year. But on his own he became one of the best at it and stayed with it and work for the Clinton Administration and continue to do work. And this book work. And this book is just wonderful to read because first of all i know other people in it. But also it is somewhat overlooked part of campaigns. It is so important. The pitcher says how many words quest mark about the worth, probably more these words. In a day and age where they add bridge soundbite on tv is now five or six seconds, the pictures are critical. Some people like josh and others who do this maybe have an outside influence in the optical system, whether thats whether thats a good thing are back, im not sure. When it is for the cause of good like a josh is always work for good folks and it is wonderful thing. Hes going to be interviewed by todd purdum, recent citizen of l. A. You moved here two years, so not so recent. Todd came from washington d. C. With his wife is not here. But todd was the head of the New York Times bureau for a long time in washington. In hours for friday. He is a fascinating guy because he is one of the best political writers if you follow him you can follow his blogs and other things its wonderful to read his stories. He writes really well and is so astute. His next book is [inaudible] politics exon rogers and hammerstein. How he made he made that transition im not sure. But people like that. But we are in for a treat. It is my pleasure to introduce to you josh king, and im sorry read before that though a quick plug for those who is the first time being here. Our books he has been an institution on march month. And it is the epicenter of this holy of the hancock park. And it is wonderful street, d. C. People all the time in the community and its wonderful thing. So bookstores are hurting. More more people are buying books at amazon and urdu is in the back, can can you just raise her hand, who is a very accomplished attorney bought this bookstore in order to save it from becoming who knows what, another coffee shop or something. His part money and heres built up and he does these all the time. Please get on his list and come back. Everybody who does books or writes books comes here, speaks and it is a really wonderful. Then several times a month and it has added tremendously to the intellectual of this community. So we thank you for that. [applause]. Without further do i give you the great to some of josh and todd. Thank you very much. Into my past employer, the l. A. Bureau chief but never the Washington Bureau chief although his longtime reporter and from your lips to gods ears. Anyway, but because its on television and the internet forever so welcome to all and welcome josh its good to see, in particular this is a timely topic the day after the end of this years primary season. Because were old friends and ive known each other for a long time ill start by asking a provocative question that i hope you dont think is unfair. As you point out in the book, the best advance workers in some ways invisible. And of its people are supposed to have what is called a passion for and you liberty. So why have you chosen to lift the curtain and reveal the trade secrets in the book and reveal how it works. Its almost as if youre a magician and telling how the tricks were done. So could you react to that and explain what you thought the public could learn from this by this exercise . Thank you todd. I think that every time you finish a political trip and some of the people who have been doing trips as well you would get around the table and have some beers it was called the wheels up party. And at some point during that party someone with a someday im going to write a book about advance work. And i would be part of those conversations. I always thought that the people that do this work had never been the people who have written books. But chiefs of staff have written books, the messick policy advisers have written books. There is a code of you dont talk about what happens on the road. I felt like i was always obsessed with this one event, september 13, 1988. Mike to caucus writes in a tank. And i knew that my friend matt had some involvement in that. And one day we are having a beer in york and a pub and not unlike the other times during wheels up party said you know, i have this journal from 88 and i have not not looked at in 25 years but it tells the story of my impression of doing that trip that turned off to be such a failure. My sex i take a look at it . And i have a copy of it here. It is six typewritten pages in the old dotmatrix style. It brought back history and it brought back that time and 88 when it was it George Hw Bush against mike dukakis. It was such a wonderful, provocative scare story and by honing in on this trip for the first part of the book i could tell the first part of the story how the press works, how tv tv and political advertising works, how an advanced teamwork. How conventions work. I just thought that we do see plenty of other books about other aspects of the political aspect that all of those hundreds or thousands of people out there who would be loathe to tell their story if i can start with the historian 88 and follow an equal number of republicans and democrats moving up to the very present day that i would violate that code and get the story out. In fact you dont tell tales the way that policy advisers have told. This is is not a David Stockton book which someone is going to take it to the woodshed. Im not telling private conversations. It began partly as a piece and put in the magazine when he focused in on the dukakis event. Because matt has given me his journal in the summer of 2012 or late in 2012 and i was thinking, i know this political magazine are thinking about trying to launch along form vehicle for politico which i was thought was a great idea. If i could just get in touch with her because the 25th anniversary of dukakis is coming up in september 2013, they might like it. But i went to the idea festival in july 2013 and had mats journal. I said i had to start writing this up, maybe it could be an ebook or something. I started. I started hammering away and i started saying well, it would lead me down all these rabbit holes of other aspects of political stagecraft. By the end of the summer of 2013 i had about 60000 works. And susan said what i can only take six, just to the dukakis story. But they also sent matt i dont how to pronounce his last name, to do a Mini Documentary and then i interviewed Matt Bennetts and me and brought back all this footage and those that made the famous to caucus avenue. Once that ran in politico and i think that was one of the most widely read stories of 2013, their first year publication, an agent came up to me and said can you come up with anymore the stories . And i said frankly, yes. One. One per campaign. One Common Thread in the book is so many of the events turn out to be disastrous like dukakis in the tank. They were thought at the time even at the end of that day, the dukakis staff that they nailed it and had a good day and good event. Could you without taking the whole , walk us through the anatomy of dukakis on the tank and how it happened and what we dont know about it that we think we know. Ill give you quick story. Its a summer of 1988, dukakis has wind at his back. If you look at the polling some of the critical measures of cares about people like me he had a decisive advantage over Vice President bush. But a real deficit when it came to a credible commanderinchief. He was against the guy a Vice President bush was a congressman from, one of the youngest aviators in world war ii. An envoy to china, chairman of the rnc. So dukakis really had to build up his props. To stand toe to toe and really cannot be entrusted with the keys to the arsenal. So beginning back in the primaries from the first speeches looking at what would be a good policy on a conventional deterrence, instead of reagan star wars, dukakis is talking about the conventional deterrence initiative. And the m1 a1 tank, the abrams 70000 pounds is the perfect example of that. Monday brought them to philadelphia and to cincinnati, and tuesday would bring them to chicago and Sterling Heights. And matt bennett is dispatched to Sterling Heights where theres a facility where they basically sell both to the pentagon and to foreign purchasers. And so matt is told by boston headquarters we want governor dukakis the take a rise in the tank. And as any advance person does, they go through a dress rehearsal and test drive. And they say were going to do a Standard Drive at 45 miles an hour, s turns, g turns, youve got to wear a helmet to hear whats going on, but also to protect your torso because you could really be hurt in a tank like this. And matt calls back to boston and says, that was damn fun, but dukakis is going to look terrible weve got to pause here. Never put anything, as president obama says, something on your head. Thats politics 101 when president obama is handed a football helmet by the Naval Academy mid shipman, and he says let me give you a lesson, politics 101, never put something on your head if youre president , and this all stems from dukakis with this it fit him, but it was an oversized [laughter] it was bulbous, and it has this large writing on it, it said mike dukakis, and it looked like pete maverick mitchell from top gun in 1986, but he didnt look like tom cruise inside the helmet. And just to finish up, because we could talk about dukakis all night, and i spend a third of the book doing it, but when the event was actually over, the correspondence correspondents, producers, writers but most of the tv guys who were traveling around lieu cac kiss came up to the Deputy Press Secretary and said you guys really figured it out. Weve been covering Ronald Reagan for eight years. You havent given us any reaganlike moments and you did it today. So sam donaldson, Chris Wallace and bruce morton, abc, nbc and cbc, that night did twominute packages that if you look at them in isolation and you really break down the way Chris Wallace, for instance, reported that day, he gave dukakis all the visuals he needed, his speech in chicago to the world Fairs Council or the council on foreign relations, his quick ride in the tank, but his policy focus against Vice President bush. And the way that story was put together sort of showed Vice President bush and dan quayle on the defensive that day to try and defend their policies. So if you were just saying how did we do that day, well, we got great visuals from Sterling Heights, we got great substance from chicago, the tv networks had all the video they need to put together a terrific twominute package, and the way tom brokaw and dan rather and Peter Jennings reported on it that night looked pretty good for dukakis. But meanwhile, in washington deese, sig rogush, whos designing ads for bush quayle, says ive got an idea. So five minutes later, the tank ad also it wasnt part of the fatal flaw that the tank took a sweep close to photographers, they were not supposed to have that really closeup shot of him coming around. And also i didnt realize, you know, at 45 miles an hour, he was a little carsick after that. Very. So arthur, i dont know if arthurs here, but arthur grace was a photographer assigned to shoot for newsweek behind the scenes. And he tried to warn Dukakis Campaign that this was headed for disaster. And so hes seeing pictures back in a hangar where dukakis mounts and subsequently dismounts the tank, and he sees a very wobbly governor come down the gangplank after the 45 mileanhour ride. There was a huge debate about whether the helmet should be worn or not. General dynamics really wouldnt let the ride go forward at that speed without it. Would he just do a slow roll in front of the press . Well, that would look wimpey. But if they wimpy. But if they broker a compromise where the governor would emerge from this behind closed doors in the hangar and hes riding along with gordon england from General Dynamics who had subsequently become the secretary of the navy and they would do a slow roll for the cameras in front of the press risers, and those who have done politics know these about 60footlong constructionsover on flatbed trucks with back row and a front row, and you could almost do like a model going down a catwalk. Governor dukakis wont be wearing a helmet, he will look like george c. Scott in patton. Then the tank will cruise well off about half a mile out onto the proven ground field, have a stop, and the governor will put his helmet on, and hell really get to see how this conventional piece of military equipment can operate. And General Dynamics wanted to show everything they could its maneuverability this guy could be president , and they want to sell more of these models. And so there is this story between matt bennett who gave me his journal and jack weekes who was on the dukakis plane as the trip director where matt is trying to tell boston im not comfortable with this, i dont think its going to work, and the tour that had gone from philadelphia to cincinnati is running into snags. Theyre booing him at the General Electric plant in cincinnati. They say, jack, you better get to General Dynamics, because we cant have another day screwed up on our Foreign Policy week. And jack flies to Sterling Heights, gets on site early that morning, and im trying to decipher the stories that matt and jack told. But as best as i could determine, they tried to have it both ways. This slow pass in front of the reporters and then have the helmet on. But the way jack tells it, he had no idea that the helmet would go on, and the tank stops at far end of the proven ground, and holy the tank runs out of gas. Then it goes on these fast passes back and forth. But then strangely and oddly, it comes back toward the press riser about a quarter mile run at full speed and takes a last minute lefthand turn almost its 145mill millimeter turn almost decapitating the reporters sitting in the front row. [laughter] but it is at that moment that an ap photographer gets a closeup shot of dukakis, a smile on his face, white teeth blaring x this is what so the bush ad then, did he just decide dukakis looks like a turtle or what [laughter] it looks dork key to him . Well, sig thought, you know, he was a great ad man, he made ads for hes Las Vegas Based and made ads for Ronald Reagan in 1984, and hes thinking of that old 60s or