Running by Patrice Fitzgerald

I was drawn to this story because it's about a woman running for president of the United States. In this story, she's already a Vice President, so she's pretty darn close, and as a woman in the White House is something I'm dying to see in my lifetime, I was eager to read this.

I will say that even though I liked it for the most part, it wasn't what I was hoping for. It's more of a suspense type thing, not a political story. It's a story of secrets, blackmail, betrayal, and high-speed chases, with lots of people trying to turn things to benefit them. Anyway, when the president gets ill and the heroine is asked to take over the office while he recuperates, we don't see her implementing any important changes or doing anything remotely interesting. All she does is go to fundraisers. I was hoping for more serious stuff.

The most it delves into real politics is by showing us what the TV networks do. It really brought to light how much control the television and newscasters have over public opinion. It made it all seem so ridiculous, and it is. I also appreciate how this story really hit home the fact that some behavior is totally acceptable for men, but not for women. We're still living by the double standard.

"The public allows men to have a sexual appetite. It's still shocking in a woman."

The story also reminds us what should really take priority when selecting someone into office. Can they lead us? Can they make the right decisions? That's what it should be about, not who they slept with 20, 30 years ago or how many children they may have.

"A little sex scandal is nothing compared to sending soldiers to die."

I did like it, but I have some quibbles. I knew who the blackmailer was asap. I also figured out who the daughter was too soon too. I'd have liked to be have been left in suspense a bit longer. The blackmailer's scenes became annoying too. I would have toned this person's parts back a bit, though I do appreciate the other moral/theme here, about how drug addiction can take a decent, well-educated, successful person, and just make them a monster. I also had some trouble with the "scandal", well, with how the heroine handled it when she was young. I thought her reasons for doing what she did lame and it kind of made me lose respect for her. I mean, my personal opinion: the country handles interracial children a lot better than they would ever handle a woman president.

"Sometimes the best man for the job is a woman."

I nabbed this on Amazon a while back.