<![CDATA[Politics Lost: How American Democracy Was Trivialized By People Who Think You're Stupid]]>

false <![CDATA[Politics Lost: How American Democracy Was Trivialized By People Who Think You're Stupid]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167199048m/19131.jpg 19131 6 People on the right are furious. People on the left are livid. And the center isn’t holding. There is only one thing on which almost everyone agrees: there is something very wrong in Washington. The country is being run by pollsters. Few politicians are able to win the voters’ trust. Blame abounds and personal responsibility is nowhere to be found. There is a cynicism in Washington that appalls those in every state, red or blue. The question is: Why? The more urgent question is: What can be done about it? Few people are more qualified to deal with both questions than Joe Klein. There are many loud and opinionated voices on the political scene, but no one sees or writes with the clarity that this respected observer brings to the table. He has spent a lifetime enmeshed in politics, studying its nuances, its quirks, and its decline. He is as angry and fed up as the rest of us, so he has decided to do something about it—in these pages, he vents, reconstructs, deconstructs, and reveals how and why our leaders are less interested in leading than they are in the “permanent campaign” that political life has become. The book opens with a stirring anecdote from the night of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Klein re-creates the scene of Robert Kennedy’s appearance in a black neighborhood in Indianapolis, where he gave a gut-wrenching, poetic speech that showed respect for the audience, imparted dignity to all who listened, and quelled a potential riot. Appearing against the wishes of his security team, it was one of the last truly courageous and spontaneous acts by an American politician—and it is no accident that Klein connects courage to spontaneity. From there, Klein begins his analysis—campaign by campaign—of how things went wrong. From the McGovern campaign polling techniques to Roger Ailes’s combative strategy for Nixon; from Reagan’s reinvention of the Republican Party to Lee Atwater’s equally brilliant reinvention of behind-the-scenes strategizing; from Jimmy Carter to George H. W. Bush to Bill Clinton to George W.—as well as inside looks at the losing sides—we see how the Democrats become diffuse and frightened, how the system becomes unbalanced, and how politics becomes less and less about ideology and more and more about how to gain and keep power. By the end of one of the most dismal political runs in history—Kerry’s 2004 campaign for president—we understand how such traits as courage, spontaneity, and leadership have disappeared from our political landscape. In a fascinating final chapter, the author refuses to give easy answers since the push for easy answers has long been part of the problem. But he does give thoughtful solutions that just may get us out of this mess—especially if any of the 2008 candidates happen to be paying attention. 4341 18 4 2006 Politics Lost: How American Democracy Was Trivialized By People Who Think You're Stupid total:94|5:2|4:3|3:1|2:0|1:0| 94 349 158 27 4 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 26 10:29:02 -0700 2007 Wed Nov 14 07:21:19 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Nov 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 19:25:15 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 19:50:02 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Oct 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 09:29:12 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 06:54:33 -0700 2009
not sure i'm with klein 100% politically, but that should be the last reason not to like someone's book, if it's thoughtfully and well written. and this one has none of the partisan bickering and hysterical witch-huntery about it. he's diagnosing the political ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Feb 29 06:39:58 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 29 06:43:07 -0800 2008 5 0 true false Thu Jan 31 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 02 10:20:28 -0700 2007 Fri Feb 01 08:18:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 07 18:15:39 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 18:16:42 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 16:51:22 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 17:07:04 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jun 15 18:23:09 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 18:23:28 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Wed Jun 20 22:32:29 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 20 22:35:52 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Fri Sep 28 07:38:00 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 28 09:16:55 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Mar 19 19:08:28 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 19 19:09:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 30 19:38:08 -0700 2008 Fri May 08 13:46:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 13 05:57:09 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 09 07:17:55 -0700 2008
If you like politics and the inner workings of a political campaign, then this is an excellent book.]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 05 11:08:47 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 05 11:17:38 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Thu Aug 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 10:25:23 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 13:49:45 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 17 17:14:01 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 17 17:16:05 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Dec 14 19:57:21 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 14 20:05:54 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Sun Oct 14 14:42:21 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 14 14:43:22 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Sun Mar 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 05:14:48 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 05:23:19 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Sat Nov 01 10:16:50 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 01 10:18:23 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=19131