The best American political writing 2004 / edited by Royce Flippin.

"Special election year edition"--Cover.

Pt. 1. More politics in the Bush era. From: the price of loyalty / Ron Suskind -- The radical / Franklin Foer and Spencer Ackerman -- The controller / Nicholas Lemann -- Bush's war against wonks / Bruce Reed -- Keeping secrets / Christopher Schmitt and Edward Pound -- Un-American recovery / Harold Meyerson -- Where are the jobs? / Bruce Nussbaum -- The mother of all big spenders: Bush spends like Carter and Panders like Clinton / Veronique de Rugy and Tad DeHaven -- The Nixon recovery / Charles Morris -- Fighting big pharmacy / Eleanor Clift -- Pt. 2. The 2004 Presidential campaign. How to build a better Democrat / Joe Klein -- The shakeout / Philip Gourevitch -- Judy, Judy, Judy / Katha Pollitt -- Rope-a-dope / Ryan Lizza -- Unsafe on any ballot / Christopher Hitchens -- A fistful of peanuts / David Samuels -- The Boston fog machine / David Brooks -- Up is down / Daniel Drezner -- Taking the GOP bait, hook, line, and stinker / Tina Brown -- Don't discount the middle / E. J. Dionne Jr. -- Pt. 3. The state of the union. The great election grab / Jeffrey Toobin -- In search of the elusive swing voter / Joshua Green -- The tax-cut con / Paul Krugman -- Playing defense / Michael Crowley -- Crimes against nature / Robert Kennedy Jr. -- We're already married / by Ruth Rosen -- A political recalculation on gay marriage / Terry Neal -- Revolution, televised / Andrew Sullivan -- Without the consent of the governed / Hugh Hewitt -- Who knows hearts, minds of voters? / Scot Lehigh -- Abolish marriage / Michael Kinsley -- Pt. 4. (Not) politics as usual. Lie down for America / Thomas Frank -- Mad about you / Jonathan Chait -- Californication / Lisa DePaulo -- Protester = criminal? / Matthew Rothschild -- How to get out of Iraq / Jonathan Schell -- Soldier on, escalate, or get out? / Patrick Buchanan -- Generals weary of low troop levels / Robert Novak -- Two-front insurgency / William Safire -- Hamstrung Hawks / Richard Wolffe -- A president beyond the law / Anthony Lewis -- Bipolar Iraq / Michael Wolff -- Pt. 5. Iraq and the war on terror. From: Plan of attack / Bob Woodward -- The war after the war: the captain / George Packer -- The right war for the right reasons / Robert Kagan and William Kristol -- Blueprint for a mess / David Rieff -- Iraq: losing the American way / James Kurth -- Blind into Baghdad / James Fallows.