Dark Horse — Ralph Reed

After the Democratic presidential nomination is stolen by Senate Majority Leader Salmon Stanley in a bitter credentials fight at the nominating convention, Bob Long, the moderate Governor of California, shocks the political establishment by launching an independent bid for the Presidency. The FBI and the Justice Department launch a full-blown criminal probe of the credentials dispute, and prosecutors empanel a grand jury that indicts the campaign chairman of Senate Majority Leader Stanley for perjury and obstruction of justice. The Republican candidate, the incumbent vice-president, appears to be coasting to victory in the topsy-turvy three-way presidential race. But the morning after he accepts the presidential nomination in a stirring speech, he is murdered in a violent terrorist attack. David Petty, his lackluster replacement, the first African-American presidential nominee in history, is hobbled by a grassroots rebellion led by a politically savvy and occasionally demagogic television evangelist.

The campaign ends in a cliff-hanger finish, with the outcome in several states too close to call. As a result, the election is thrown into the House of Representatives. The shrewd and devious Speaker of the House, torn between his own voracious ambition and his constitutional duty, presides over this constitutional crisis. All this takes place against the backdrop of the war on terrorism and a looming conflict with a newly nuclear Iran. The lame-duck President, seeking to avenge the murder of the late Vice President, plans a military strike against Iran, but stops short when the government grinds to a halt while the House chooses his successor. Described by a veteran of seven presidential campaigns with a quarter century of experience as a political strategist, Dark Horse sizzles with authenticity and reads truer than non-fiction. Offering a looking-glass into presidential politics on the eve of the 2008 election, Dark Horse contains characters, plot twists, and rare insight that will no doubt be relevant to the real-life presidential campaign now underway.