Few Are Chosen: A Campaign Memoir

By Doug McFarland

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592982271
• ISBN13: 9781592982271
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Bookhouse Fulfillment
• Length: 281 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A fly on the wall...on the campaign trail!

Reviewed by Danelle Drake for Reader Views (2/09) Doug McFarland's description: "The apt analogy to a campaign for public office is a ride on an amusement park roller coaster." In "Few Are Chosen" he gives us a front car seat to see up close what it is like on the campaign trail. As I sit in our home watching the evening news, I admit I often wonder what it was like during the campaign for those individuals who are so eager to serve. Why in the world would they subject themselves to such a life? Heck, I found all of the "politics" involved in small-town PTA a bit too much for me. I seemed to be missing out on my own children's activities while I was trying to do well for the entire school. Honestly, I can do without all of the drama. It's amazing how vicious mom's can be. "Some months are longer than others in politics." Doug tells us and through his words we are shown it is true. Don't sweat the small stuff is an understatement in the political field. Everything is a big deal. EVERYTHING! If you ever imagined what it would be like or think you are up to it, read, read, read. This book will guide you if you choose to pursue the dream or remind you why you chose not to follow a political path. We are given the position of "a fly on the wall" as we travel the journey of a Senate candidate. From the moment he decides to run and the reasons why, through to the bitter end, this heartfelt account in "Few Are Chosen" is more than informative. Everyone should have the opportunity to follow their dreams. You don't want to be sitting on your rocker when you are old and think about what could have been. The adrenaline fueled campaign was Doug McFarland's dream come true.

A surprisingly gripping read

I was unprepared for the quality and readability of this book. I am a Democrat in Duluth and I did not expect to share the author's political views. I didn't, but surprisingly this interfered little with my enjoyment of the book, perhaps because his political views played a secondary role in the story. His description of the grim realities of establishing a campaign team, scraping together enough money to be viable in the primary process, campaigning in far-flung corners of the state with no guarantee that more then two people will attend a dinner or a meeting, sweating out the rumors that a better-connected pol will join the race--these are masterfully described by Mr. McFarland. I have a new respect for the rigors of statewide campaigning and less respect for our political process at the state level, despite thinking that the Minnesota caucus system gets more right than most states do. Minnesota political junkies should read this book pronto, as should anyone who wishes minor candidates should exit primary races sooner. There is honor and dignity in campaigning as Mr. McFarland did and our political process is beter for campaigns like his. Well done Mr. McFarland, in your campaign and in writing this book, and thanks.

This is a great book

I enjoyed reading this book very much. It gives great insight into a run for a US Senate seat. As I read the book, I felt as though I was part of the campaign team.

Memoirs of an unsuccessful bid to win the Republican Party's nomination for the Senate

It is not very often that someone would pen memoirs of an event in his life where he was unsuccessful in reaching his ultimate goal. However, such is not the case with Prof. Douglas McFarland who in the early 1992 ran for the Republican Party's nomination as candidate for the US Senate in Minnesota and lost. Prof. McFarland in his recent memoirs, Few Are Chosen-A Campaign Memoir, invites us along on his long gruelling voyage providing us with a blow -by blow account as to why and how he decided to run for the Senate, the exhausting life on the campaign trail, truths about the American political system, what people don't know about politicians, the importance of funding, gaining media support, begging for money, the movers and shakers in the party, gaining delegate and activist support, and how honest are politicians. We also read about hot button issues of the era including the prolife and prochoice question that played a very important role in the USA in the 1990s and is still today high up on candidates' agendas. Even before I opened the first page of Few Are Chosen-A Campaign Memoir I asked myself why would a neophyte with little money who had never held public office and didn't have a clue about campaigning want to enter the Senate race? Prof. McFarland immediately replies to my query in his opening chapter when he states that one of the principal reasons for entering the race was that even though people might laugh at him or chortle about Don Quixote tilting at windmills, he didn't care. In his eighties, he would be able to say, he went for his dream. Another reason was that he wanted to replace the incumbent Senator David Durenberger who had caught himself in an ethics scandal for using government funds to reimburse some of his personal expenses. Prof. McFarland states, "I didn't want a person with ethical problems representing our party on the ballot." Ironically, although Prof. McFarland didn't make it all the way to the party convention, he was instrumental in forcing Durenberger out of the race. After completing my reading of Few Are Chosen-A Campaign Memoir with its numerous descriptions of the mental, economic and physical pain that Prof. McFarland endured while campaigning, I came to the conclusion that you either have to be a gluten for punishment or someone with a very thick skin to run for political office in the USA. It is just plain torture! Although the book has some interesting tidbits, it does have a few shortcomings. It is very tiresome to read pages filled with descriptions of meetings with all kinds of political hacks who are not exactly household names. And unless you are a political junky familiar with Minnesota politics, you probably couldn't care less what these individuals said or did. It would have been nice to turn these memoirs on the people and events around them and present them with reflections that bear some special perspective or insight. I would have liked to have read more about Prof.