Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Was this the turning point when presidential politics took a weird turn, leading us to Donald Trump?

Strange But True Stories From The 1988 Presidential Campaign.

Part Two of Gary Hart’s Run For President. 
Sacramento, California, USA January 27, 2020

February 3rd marks the beginning of the Presidential Primary Season when the first voters in Iowa begin assembling for the Iowa Caucuses. Thirty two years ago, two young political science graduates went out to Iowa from California to work for presidential hopeful Gary Hart in what would be “part two” of his campaign for president. Could they make a difference? Would Hart be able to recover from the scandal with Donna Rice? Would this one time presumptive Democratic Party hopeful surge to popularity like he did in 1984 or are there no second chances in American government and politics? Outside Chance by Lee Chazen takes us on a whirlwind tour in this "Inspirational, entertaining, fast-moving, insider's view of the campaign trail."*

There were several driving forces that got Chazen to write the book. The first was disappointment and anger after reading the November, 2018 issue of The Atlantic where James Fallows wrote an article titled “Was Gary Hart Set Up?” He would rediscover the painful fact that he had discovered back in 1988 -- that a career of study, good ideas and service can be nullified by one scandalous story. Making it worse was the idea that it was a setup.

The second thing was that there was another side to this story that was not being told -- that there is a lot of activity beneath the surface that no one knows about -- ideas, policies, thinkers, idealists -- people who make great sacrifices on behalf of someone they believe in and that there are solutions that never see the light of day because of dirty and disgusting political practices. 

Lastly, there was a second part to Gary Hart’s campaign after his six month break from the campaign trail that is rarely if ever documented - not mentioned in Matt Bai’s book All the Truth is Out and not portrayed in the movie The Front Runner, starring Hugh Jackman. 

One of the last of the true intellectuals to run for President, a scholar who understood and often quoted the Founding Fathers, Hart toured the country, rolled up his sleeves and gave lectures across the country. Chazen wanted to write a story that recaptured the spirit and imagination of this campaign - something that would also push ideas and strategies into the present. 

Lee Chazen is an educator and content developer who does consulting work under the name GliderCell. A former high school social studies teacher, Lee’s primary focus is in applying his research in self-organizing systems to education, politics and society. He is also a musician and Young Artist competition winner (on French Horn), founder of Global Challenge (a game-based social studies project) and HikeStorming - a method for getting people to think and brainstorm better through hiking.

Outside Chance is available on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2RyIbKi and the Google Play Store: http://bit.ly/37DN5va



If you would like more information about Outside Chance, or to schedule an interview or presentation, please contact Lee at lee@glidercell.com. 

Background Information and Links 



*Amazon reviewer
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