Review on Amazon.com

4 out of 5 stars

By Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures.com

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 grueling 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 glutton 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 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. McFarland's take on these political hacks, how they gained their positions, the power they can exerted, the dynamics of the nominating process, politics by perception, and other insider information.

In Few Are Chosen-A Campaign Memoir there seems to be a tendency to hold back some titillating information that would have been far more fascinating to read than a description of trips to a middle of nowhere Minnesota destination. Moreover, Prof, McFarland's memoirs read more like a raw diary lacking cohesion and coherence. Perhaps he is too much of a nice guy to reveal some of the more questionable sides of political campaigning.

"Candidate’s Kids Corralled Into Work"

from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, September 2, 2008

By Meghan Boldt

Doug McFarland, who was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota in 1994, on Monday gave state delegates a taste of what it’s like to run for office.

McFarland, who has just published "Few Are Chosen," also shared a story about a well-known party official he dubbed "Mean Old Ron."

Yes, he’s referring to Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey.

McFarland recalled one day when Carey came to pick up his two children to drive them to a campaign stop.

The youngsters were excited to catch up on their sleep during the car ride. Little did they know Carey had something different in mind. He had them sorting campaign literature, pre-taping signs and blowing up balloons during the whole trip.

"All we heard about the whole way home was mean old Ron," McFarland said.

"Tales from the Political Trail"

From the West Valley View (Goodyear, AZ), June 10, 2008

By Frank Morris

When Doug McFarland sees the 2008 presidential candidates on TV, he says he can feel their pain. . . . He knows the campaign trail all too well. While McFarland never made a run for the White House, he did set out for a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota in 1994.

Now he’s penned a memoir, Few Are Chosen (Beaver’s Pond Press, $17) that recalls the ups, downs, and true life adventures encountered on the quest for elected office.

"It’s not really something that advocates political positions or argues philosophy," McFarland said. "It’s about the slings and arrows and things you can expect when you run for office. It’s things that happened and lessons I learned, and it’s things I think are amusing or funny, and I hope readers do, too." . . .

"One thing I learned about the campaign is, I used to watch these campaigns unfold, and you just have this feeling the candidates have a grand plan or everything is going to the grand scheme," McFarland said. "But you get into a campaign and you don’t even know what’s happening from one day to the next or one hour to the next." . . . "There’s so many rumors out there; you’re trying to figure out if something is rumor or solid information."

Additionally, McFarland said campaigning involves a busy schedule and eating a bit of humble pie.

"People see a candidate on TV, or they go to a speech and see the candidate there at the event, and they don’t realize that’s just one event out of so many," he said. "And there’s so much time spent just on the telephone. I’d sit in my basement for hours night after night calling delegates. It isn’t very glamorous, but it’s what you need to do, in addition to raising money."

Nightly telephoning was indeed one of his least favorite aspects of campaigning, along with holding events at hospitality suites, McFarland said. "The problem is here I am standing in one place for three straight hours, so you can imagine what that did to my back, plus it’s a very intense thing," he said. "People are asking you questions the entire time and you need to stay focused, so you got to just tough it out until the person lets go of you."

Despite the long hours, feelings of exhaustion and drained vocal chords, McFarland loved traveling around and meeting people, he said.

"I think probably my favorite part was being on the road. You get on the road and you’re driving around and you drive to the next town and pull into town and make an appearance at a local radio station, or maybe another at a local newspaper, and then host a luncheon for political activists and then you’re onto the next town," McFarland said.

"Your day is so full, you’re moving from town to town, and you have such a feeling of accomplishment," he said. "You just feel you’re getting so much done, you’re making appearances and spreading the word. It’s like Friday evening you get to the end of the day and you’ve done some work and you just feel good."

McFarland said he’s learned raising money and beating down rumors are key to winning an election. If the 2008 presidential candidates want to call the White House their home, they’ll have to do that, too, he said.

McFarland’s 22-chapter, 288-page book, Few Are Chosen, details many adventures from the campaign trail, and is available at most major book sellers.