3. For people who are uneasy with Thompson's style of political writing, what sort of writers does he suggest they follow to stay up-to-date with politics?

4. What does the author believe Americans want and need?

5. What does Thompson combine with whiskey in "November?"

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Thompson's thoughts on the Yin/Yang in regards to Nixon and McGovern.

2. Why does the book turn into a series of dialogues and monologues after Chapter 11?

3. Describe the activities of election day.

4. How does Thompson explain McGovern's lack of success?

5. How does Thompson describe the varying roles of and attitudes toward professional speech writers?

6. During the demonstration of a previous campaign, what did Thompson realize about the police officers on the scene?

7. Why do Thompson and his friend decide to resolve the Mankiewicz situation by leaving?

8. Why is Thompson the "rock-n-roll emissary" for politics?

9. Why does the public find Mankowiecz so unsettling?

10. What does Thompson believe about the middle-class?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did Eagleton undermine McGovern on the campaign trail? Why is it significant that he repressed his medical records? How did this make McGovern look to the public and why? How did McGovern's failure to act quickly ruin some of his credibility? How does Thompson note that all of these problems could have been avoided with honesty from the beginning? In what ways does this situation mark the end of McGovern's presidential aspirations?

Essay Topic 2

By the time of the 1972 presidential election, how have politicians come to regard the youth vote and the African-American vote? How has the Vietnam War and the subsequent culture around it (for example, hippies, Woodstock, politically aware actors, and musicians) forced the politicians to start targeting the younger crowds for votes? How has this culture, alongside with the continuing struggling for civil rights, aided the African-American community in terms of the government focusing on their demographic?