Who plans the hundreds of political rallies and events each year?
Josh King's new book,
Off Script: An Advance Mans Guide to White House Stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle, and Political Suicide (St. Martins Press, 2016) offers an answer. King is a former director of production for presidential events at the White House. Even a casual observer of presidential campaigns remembers Governor Michael Dukakis atop that tank, fitted with a spectacularly oversized helmet. The image remains a part of campaign lore as proof that just one event can forever change a candidates fortunes. Josh Kings book offers a glimpse into the often unnoticed role of the campaign advance team. That array of event planners, visual specialists, and travel agents place the candidate at center stage. King argues that we have been in the age of optics ever since the late 1980s as how a candidate is framed by the camera matters more and more.