NO EXCUSES: CONCESSIONS OF A SERIAL CAMPAIGNER, by Robert Shrum, Simon and Schuster, 521 pages, $28

Robert Shrum is not exactly a household name but he's helped create quite a few.

Shrum has extensive experience in developing strategies — and then running national campaigns — for a number of famous politicians.

Most political strategists work for people running as members of the party they personally espouse, and since Shrum is a Democrat, it's not surprising that over the past 40 years he has worked on 30 winning campaigns for the U.S. Senate.

He was also the senior strategist for the Gore for President campaign in 2000 and the Kerry for President campaign in 2004, and has been closely associated with Ted Kennedy, John Edwards, Jon Corzine and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

In his anecdotal book "No Excuses," Shrum makes national politics come alive by revealing some of the most interesting experiences he has had with the various campaigns.

For instance, Shrum considered Al Gore to be well-suited to the presidency, but he criticizes him for tendencies to exaggerate on the stump and to appear uncomfortable in his own skin. Shrum also believes that Gore also "yielded too often to the temptation" to prove he was the smartest person in the room — which is not appealing to voters.

Shrum reveals that John Edwards, vice presidential candidate with John Kerry in 2004, was almost chosen to run with Gore in 2000. He also asserts that Kerry wanted to be Gore's running mate, but he ruined it by giving Gore too much advice during the primaries and offending Tipper Gore.

Shrum writes at length about the central problem of the Gore candidacy — that as vice president to President Clinton, he avoided using Clinton as a campaigner.

Most analysts of recent vintage have thought it was a mistake not to use someone as charismatic and effective as the sitting president. But all the polling done by the Gore campaign suggested that Clinton would not be an asset to Gore because of Monica Lewinsky. The fact that he was not used irritated Clinton and built a wall between him and his vice president.

Shrum writes that Edwards was overly nervous before his first vice-presidential debate with Dick Cheney, that he stumbled in practice rounds and that he called Kerry to say he was not ready — only days before the debate. After the VP debate, most Kerry advisers thought Edwards had not been strong enough.

The author also gives an interesting account of the "Swift Boat controversy," in which allegations were made during Kerry's presidential campaign that he had not been a real hero in Vietnam, even though he won several medals.

Shrum notes that the candidate wanted to lash out at his critics, but too many within the campaign thought it was the wrong approach, so he ended up being too soft, thus making it easier for Bush to win re-election.

There are many other stories and anecdotes that make this book interesting. Shrum tells of the various campaigns in what seems a candid way, certainly enough to please most readers.

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