The Race to 270: The Electoral College and the CampaignStrategies of 2000 and 2004. By Daron R. Shaw. Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 2006. 216p. $50.00 cloth, $20.00paper.

Part political memoir, part political science, this is a valuablebook on presidential elections that should be read by consultantsand academics alike. Drawing on his experience as a Bush strategistand a political science professor at the University of Texas, DaronShaw argues that these two audiences could learn a great deal aboutwhat interests them by paying more careful attention to each other.This theme is woven throughout Shaw's consideration of ElectoralCollege strategies, execution of those strategies, and their effecton American electorates. Though he has clear political predilectionsthat may make Democratic readers occasionally bristle, his rigorousexamination of the best data on presidentialcampaigns available to date keeps him squarely in therealm of political science. The end result is a book that providesirreplaceable insight on how campaigns might better function, on thesubjects that political scientists could do a better job ofexploring, and on the potential future of elections research.