The Candidate: What it Takes to Win – and Hold – the White House

The Candidate: What it Takes to Win – and Hold – the White House is a 2013 book by American political scientist Samuel L. Popkin. Popkin studies the factors behind successful U.S. presidential campaigns, based on his research and campaign experience. He uses case studies, including George H.W. Bush’s 1992 re-election bid, Al Gore’s 2000 run, and Hillary Clinton’s 2008 primary effort, to illustrate how challengers, incumbents, and successors navigate the election process. The book was widely used by political operatives, including Republicans, for its clear framework on strategic adaptation and campaign management—a set of lessons on what distinguishes winning campaigns from losing ones. Although Popkin is a Democrat his books were widely read and used in Republican campaigns, even required read and distributed by Karl Rove in the W Bush campaigns. The book prompted James Fallows, former editor of The Atlantic, to do a series of articles, titled “Ask Doctor Popkin”, that drew hundreds of thousands of views.