Description

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“[Rabin-Havt] offers an intimate portrait of his cranky boss, writing about everything from Sanders’s famous mittens, to his love of picket lines and Motown songs, to his distaste for ‘the inane droning of cable news commentators,’ to his prescient fear that Donald Trump was ‘nuts’ and would upend democracy.” —Maureen Dowd, New York Times

The Fighting Soul is an unforgettable chronicle of life on the road with Bernie Sanders and the first in-depth portrait of this fiercely independent, and famously private, left-wing firebrand. As a close advisor and deputy campaign manager on Sanders’s most recent presidential campaign, the tireless Ari Rabin-Havt spent more hours between 2017 and 2020 with the Vermont senator than anyone else. The Fighting Soul is a behind-the-scenes account of Sanders’s run, including his heart attack in Las Vegas, his notorious debate encounter with fellow progressive Elizabeth Warren, and a momentous private conversation between Sanders and Barack Obama. Revelatory and heartfelt, The Fighting Soul depicts the rare politician motivated by principle, not power.

About the Author

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Ari Rabin-Havt served as deputy campaign manager on Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign and was a Sanders aide from 2017 to 2021. His writing has appeared in the New Republic and the Washington Post, among other publications, and he lives in Washington, DC.

Praise For…

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Sanders is not well known on the granular level ? his management style, tastes and quirks ? in a way that is common for national politicians. Into that vacuum comes Ari Rabin-Havt’s engaging memoir of the 2020 Sanders campaign... Rabin-Havt, a former deputy campaign manager, offers an insider’s view.
— Janet Hook - New York Times Book Review

The Fighting Soul by Ari Rabin-Havt is great ? tons of detail about how the Bernie 2020 campaign worked, about what the media misses about campaigns, and about Sanders himself. Really smooth read, too.

— David Weigel, national political correspondent

The maverick socialist senator from Vermont flouts the norms of presidential politics in this rollicking campaign memoir . . . Rabin-Havt’s account of the Democratic primary race is breezy, colorful, and often insightful . . . the portrait of Sanders as a crusty but caring man, passionately committed to principles and the interests of working-class people, vividly shows why he is one of America’s most influential politicians.
— Publishers Weekly

Rabin-Havt describes, sometimes in humorous detail, the determined, principled persona that Sanders consistently embodied.... Offers insightful details of campaign rallies and 2020 primary debates and documents the drama and excitement of the Sanders campaign’s increasing success.... A thoughtful and comprehensive account of the Sanders 2020 campaign and an authoritative description of the candidate’s personality.
— Jill Ortner - Library Journal

Rabin-Havt delivers an admirable portrait of his candidate... Among the better campaign confessionals and just the thing for presidential-politics wonks.
— Kirkus Reviews