Claiming the mantle

"Although Howard Dean outraised his opponents in 2003, he did not develop the national organization or the institutional support necessary to secure the nomination, leaving himself vulnerable to John Kerry's 2004 surge. Drawing on numerous examples from the 2004 Democratic campaign, and detailed analyses of every contested Republican and Democratic presidential nomination race since 1976, Claiming the Mantle interprets the evolution of the presidential nomination process and explores the unwritten rules of the pre-primary campaign that allow one candidate to "claim the mantle" while the others fall short."--Jacket.