Candidates 1980 is a book dealing with -- surprise, surprise -- the candidates in the 1980 presidential campaign. As a former staffer with the Nixon White House, Bakshian makes little secret of his own Republican bias but is also surprisingly skeptical of the eventual Republican nominee and President Ronald Reagan. Though forgotten by history, many Republicans shared Bakshian's concerns and his book serves as a good artifact for students of political science who want a chance to see what people were really saying and thinking before modifying their views in hindsight. As well, Bakshian provides a thorough examination of the other contenders for the Republican and Democratic nominations -- giving as serious attention to forgotten contenders like Republicans Phil Crane, Larry Pressler, and Ben Hernandez as he does to familiar names like Reagan, Bush, Carter, Kennedy, and Dole. (Even Jerry Brown is analyzed though one gets the feeling Bakshian -- for all his skill as an analyst -- could never have forseen Brown's eventual comeback as the Mayor of Oakland, even less as a serious national political leader.)

Ah, presidential politics! Its amazing, really, to consider some of the men who have, at one time, been spoken of as legitimate presidential contenders just to fade into obscurity when their campaigns fail to live up to expectations. Does anyone rememeber names like Pete DuPont, Tom Harkin, Ruebin Askew, Milton Shapp, or John Bricker? None of them are household names but at one time, all of them had a better chance than most to be the most powerful man in the world. That's why its nice to have books like Aram Bakshian's Candidates 1980 around. For political junkies, they provide an excuse to wonder what could have been if a just a few people in a few primaries voted differently.

It should also be added that Bakshian is a very good, witty writer who never falls victim to the stuffiness that afflicts so many other campaign books. While non-politically inclined readers will probably have little interest in this book, I think that confessed political junkies like me will find it to be an interesting and amusing artifact.