1689 Fiction with an agenda--Boxer's novel

Barbara Boxer is the sort of pol you love to hate. Whenever she's on TV, I just say a prayer for California. She's come out with "her" first novel, "A time to run." All the Republicans are bad, and all the Democrats are good. I think the fiction part was contributed by her co-author, Mary-Rose Hayes, and the agenda part by Boxer. When is a novel, not a novel? When it is a political poster.

Phrases used in the reviews:
"dull plot"
"political twaddle"
"tedious crawl"
"sex scenes--horses with nostrils flaring"
"a cross between a bad romance novel and a soap opera script"
"Ah, to be a liberal Democrat. The world is so simple. One's soul is so caring. One's mind is so enlightened."

So how do two people collaborate on a novel, one a writer and one a politician. Here's what Beautiful Atrocities said in December.

"Barbara Boxer is soon to be a best-selling 'author'. Her 'literary' agent hooked her up with SF novelist Mary Rose Hayes to 'collaborate' on a novel: "Boxer's provided characters, details & descriptions; the novelist has combined those elements into a story." In other words, Babs' contribution is - her name."