Warts and All: 2the Men Who Would Be Bush

Rather than policies, asserts Ridley, the Economist 's Washington correspondent, the successful marketing of a public person spells victory for presidential candidates, even one as roundly disparaged as former vice president Bush. In a discerning report on the 1988 campaign, covered here with caustic wit and astute portrayals of people and places, Ridley characterizes our TV-dominated electoral process as wasteful and frequently nasty--fraught with hyperbole and hypocrisy that reveal our national insecurities. Thanks to scripts prepared by well-funded professional handlers, Ridley argues, a carefully contrived image won Bush the small but requisite majority to become ``king'' of our democracy. (May)