Word: sheerly
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...these driven eldest-or-onlies. But never before have you been surrounded by throngs of those just like you, and never again will you find yourself in such a unique social environment. Unless you take a step back to examine Harvard from a distance, to acknowledge the sheer weirdness of the whole thing, this kind of "unique" can seem like a very bad thing. For instance, it's easy to get discouraged with Harvard's social life. Some first-years are lucky enough to land in an entryway full of friends who feel like they've known each other forever...
...bigger than a Chevy Suburban but smaller than a Winnebago, and there's nothing mini about it--especially since the Explorer Van conversion company got through with it. It's a full-size van with a raised roof so you can easily move about the wood-clad cabin. Its sheer size gives you an enviable advantage over just about anything else on the road--personal space. Its two rows of captain's chairs and a rear bench seat mean the kids are rarely within reach of one another. Which, of course, is how sibling love flourishes on lengthy excursions...
From that moment, among Republicans, the sheer hunger for victory swamped all distinctions of rank, ideology and geography. Corporate chieftains were calling down to Austin, wanting to come visit. Petitions began appearing from state legislators, some orchestrated by Austin, some not, calling on Bush to run or signaling their support if he did. Silicon Valley executives starting taking out ads in newspapers pumping his candidacy. The checks came in unsolicited at state party headquarters, to Republican consultants, to old friends of the Bush family...
...this point it became impossible to separate what the Bush team was doing to fan the flames and the sheer heat of the inferno. Yet the striking thing about this moment, after so many months of quietly working the bellows, is that it seems to have singed even Bush himself. The more it grew and burned out of his control, the less it looked as if he'd have any choice of walking away. Even if the expressions of reluctance had been designed to signal his distance from the process, the doubts now took on a life of their...
...course, the old smoke-filled rooms were filthy places, for cutting deals and making threats and trading bribes, and the old bosses were not always weighing the merits when they christened their candidates. It is hard to watch the Bush anointment and not be shocked by the sheer, almost undemocratic nerve of it, and the risk that this could all blow up and leave the party with a choice among broken and, other than Steve Forbes, penniless understudies. "No matter how much support you get from insiders, activists, fund raisers, you still gotta run the gauntlet," says longtime Republican strategist...