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By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts

Sunday, October 1, 2006

In these buckle-down weeks before the midterm elections, pretty much every wonk in Washington has a new book that tells you How Those Guys Have Screwed Things Up or How Our Folks Can Win the Day. In case you missed the book party or C-SPAN interview, here's our handy -- albeit incomplete -- guide for telling them apart.

Title: Applebee's America: How Successful Political, Business, and Religious Leaders Connect With the New American Community

Author: Ron Fournier, Doug Sosnik, Matt Dowd

Pages: 260

Back cover: Blurbs from Hillary Clinton, John McCain

Ever a Post Writer?: No

Unexpected index entry: Duct tape, for preparedness, 135

First line: "William Jefferson Clinton breezed to reelection in 1996 just two years after his presidency hit the rocks with his health care reforms a bust, his relevancy in doubt, and voters so leery of his leadership that they gave Republicans control of Congress for the first time in 40 years."

Title: Winning Right: Campaign Politics and Conservative Policies

Author: Ed Gillespie

Pages: 287

Back cover: Blurbs from Elizabeth Dole, Donna Brazile

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