This is an entertaining, and perhaps frightening look at a presidential campaign. Pierre Salinger persuaded Kristi Witker to take a stand against Nixon and join the campaign of George McGovern in New Hampshire. By election time, she tells us in this unsparing memoir, she was thoroughly discouraged and counting the days until it was over. According to Witker, no-one was ever really in charge, and the "team" fought among themselves as hard as they fought the Republicans. Certain that youth and outsider status were essential to his appeal, McGovern spurned the assistance of experienced Democrats.

Not the kind of book to encourage real participation in politics. ( )