The Politics of Defeat: Campaigning for Congress

“The candidate was destined for defeat the day he announced for his party’s nomination for election to the U.S. House of Representatives. No nominee of his party had received more than 42% of the vote in that district for over thirty years. His opponent was an entrenched incumbent who entertained no thought of retirement. “The party leaders provided only perfunctory encouragement … from the outset the candidate underestimated the personal, emotional, and financial costs of the campaign … on election night he was denied even a moral victory since his margin was hardly better than those that of his predecessors … his business was badly shaken and personal debts of several thousand dollars caused him embarrassment and some hardships. ”The Politics of Defeat, from which the above passages are taken, is a highly readable study of the losing candidates in a Congressional election. It focuses on the phenomenon of political defeat and the congressional campaign as a manifestation of a unique universe in American politics. The first full-scale study of this phenomenon in a Congressional campaign, the book surveys the impact of the party, recruitment, campaign techniques, and issues on the election outcome, and provides interesting insight into why men and women seek high public office when chances of victory are very remote. During the Congressional campaign of 1962, while the authors each served as a division head for one of the national party committees in Washington, D.C., they observed the need for research in the areas of Congressional and state campaigning. The Politics of Defeat answers that need, providing a study of political defeat in particular and of campaigning and the party system in general. In their summary chapter, the authors offer timely recommendations “to improve the lot of the Congressional candidate,” and to modify certain aspects of the party system.