Fight the Right: A Manual for Surviving the Coming Conservative Apocalypse

by Warren Kinsella

Everywhere you look, these days, Conservatives are winning elections. No matter where you look, the story is the same: white, angry men on the Right are winning power. The Left, meanwhile, is divided and dispirited, and rapidly losing ground. Fight the Right is a handbook on how to survive the nasty, brutish and short-sighted era in which we find ourselves and is designed to help progressives better understand their conservative adversary, and ultimately defeat conservatives wherever the battle is taking shape. It's a manual on how conservatives have appropriated language and values, and how progressives can take both back. Written in a fun, accessible, style, Fight the Right will appeal to those about to launch an advocacy effort, as well as those who are simply curious about how (and if) the Right thinks. It is chock full of war stories and not-so-tall tales about winning progressive campaigns, from everyone from Jean Chretien to Bobby Kennedy, Jr., and it will argue--forcefully--that a United Right can't be defeated until a United Left emerges. Wherever conservative power-brokers are hurting average citizens and hard-working families, Fight the Right will provide a tested road map on how to beat the bullies.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Canada

277 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Cow]

Before I say what I thought about the book, let me get this out of the way: I have a lot of respect for Warren Kinsella. He can be a divisive and polarizing figure, especially amongst his media colleagues--over drinks with various Toronto and Ottawa columnists and bloggers, when his name comes up, it's often with a sigh and "Oh, Kinsella."

This book could only have been written by the punk rock columnist who doesn't shy from a fight--who has been labelled (as if it was an insult) the head of "the idealistic wing" of the Liberal Party. Which is exactly why he's the one who needed to write this book, and why I'm so glad he did.

Let's not kid ourselves: the progressive side is losing in almost every battle it faces. And it's not that we have the wrong values, ideas, or policies--poll after poll shows we're more in line with the average North American voter, *especially* in Canada. But we're bad at explaining ourselves, at connecting to voters, at choosing which battles to fight, and (even if we make the right choice) fighting those battles.

Progressives are branded as elite intellectuals -- and we run and hide from that label (which is, in and of itself, ridiculous; if preferring craft beer made by hand by folks in my own city over imported American mass-produced swill is wrong--despite supporting local creativity and producing jobs and tax revenue--I don't want to be right). But here's the thing: they're elite intellectuals, too. How is it a Leaside boy, with a masters degree in economics, was able to connect with voters and win a majority? It's pretty easy when your lead opponent spent decades as a Harvard professor, had no idea how to connect with anyone on the campaign trail, and who was *completely afraid of the fight*, not agreeing to actually challenge his opponent until it was too late. And that's just one example out of so many.

It's not just the message. It's the connection. Whether in Canada or in the US, even many progressive voters don't see a place for themselves in the current parties, and stay home--while conservative voters have no such problem.

I've worked for a lot of candidates, in both Canada and the U.S., over the years. The ones that win are the ones where voters feel the candidate cares about them, understands their issues, and might actually be there to help. Someone with a six-hundred-point Great Plan for Reshaping Society gets nowhere. Someone who used to volunteer pro bono legal help at the community centre will win, because people seen they've been there (and because the candidate has actually met people in difficult situations).

Kinsella's book touches on all of the above, while talking these ideas over with an impressive variety of people from all over: Occupiers in Newfoundland, conservative media leaders in Toronto, Republican and Democrat messaging types and backroom folks, even a former prime minister, just to name a few.

It's a quick, but powerful and inciting read. And if you're on the progressive side, especially if you're an activist, you should read it and take it to heart--as, believe me, those on the conservative side will be doing exactly that.

[Alexander Delorme]

Not a bad book by a political bulldog. Mind you, it's exactly what you'd expect and nothing more. There's no terribly profound insight and Kinsella fails to really explain what is to be done about the barbarians at the gate. You either already agree with Kinsella or you already disagree with him, and that will determine whether this book makes you chuckle in delight or screw your face in disgust.

[Robyn]

Enjoyed the first half of the book. Second half focused too much on the Occupy Movement - boring.

[Liquidlasagna]

I pretty much loathe the political left and loath the political right, but i think this review is not a bad summary of the weakest points to Kinsella's psychological and political makeup

......

Amazone

The marketing and the outside of the book is excellent - clear, provocative, passionate - just what I was expecting from the book itself.

The book, itself, is a real disappointment.

Kinsella is a great practitioner of political strategy. As a political philosopher, however, he sucks.

Unfortunately, this book is about Kinsella's political philosophy. It is a total failure.

There is no guide or practical part to this book.

So it is very misleading to think that by reading this book you will get any sort of "manual" especially to the unexplained "Coming Conservative Apocalypse". That subtitle is misleading.

The book is a series of meandering riffs.

Kinsella seems completely unaware of his own pride and intellectual incoherence.

The book tries (and fails) to give the reader what is best described as a marvel comics view of politics.

To sum it up
the left - "progressives" - good and moral
the right, racist and greedy, immoral and bad


Anyone on the right, it turns out, has some sort of moral failing.
On the left, they are generous saintly martyrs for the common good.

Worse, half of the book is written on American politics, and although it is clear that Kinsella has no particular insight into the field, that is no impediment to his subsequent maligning of Conservative American politicians and in particular one prolific Conservative consultant - Fred Luntz (who should be read in the original).

An example of this kind of unfair attack is on page 43 where Kinsella quotes former Republican Presidential challenger Rick Perry as being against Social Security because he described it as a Ponzi Scheme.

A fair interpretation of the quote would have said that Perry was criticizing the unfunded nature of future social security benefits. But there is no quote or footnote for this quote from Rick Perry for the reader to independently check.

Kinsella has not used footnotes or any sort of scholarly techniques to support the interpretations that fill this book.

So instead of building a rational, coherent argument - verified and supported by footnoted facts, Kinsella breezily drifts, untethered, from one cherry picked group of assertions to the next.

The effect is off-putting, and ultimately, does harm to the valid parts of his argument.

For example, Kinsella is an advocate of the "progressive" parties of Canada - the Liberals and the NDP - uniting into one solid opposition party in Canada.

Together, Kinsella argues, these two parties would be strong enough to defeat the Conservatives and Stephen Harper. So much so good. And if the book had stuck to this theme, it could have been interesting.

Kinsella, instead, wanders all the way over to indict the right by including in four full pages (86-90) on linking the mentally disturbed Norwegian Mass Murderer, Anders Brevik, to be as much a part of the Christian Conservative world as Stephen Harper and George Bush. So, we can safely say that civility and proportionality are not Kinsella's strong point.

One of the solutions it seems, says Kinsella, is to follow the strategies of the "peaceful" (Pg. 168) Occupy Movement.

A movement Kinsella describes as "Christ-like." (Imagine what Kinsella would say if Prime Minister Stephen Harper described people who agreed with him politically as "Christ-like"?)

There are some good sections. When Kinsella writes about Canadian political strategy and tactics, as he does at the beginning of Chapter 4 it can be very interesting.

I remain gobsmacked by Kinsella's absolutely lack of self awareness.

His hypocrisy, and the simple poor quality of the thought in this book.

I found little to recommend it.I hope he returns to writing about things he knows about.

Stewart K

[Rhys]

I wasn't too sure about this book, lent to me by a neighbour. It was interesting, though.

Not so much a manual to 'survive the conservative apocalypse' as it was an interesting insider's perspective on managing the message and winning elections in contemporary 'democracy'.

Interestingly, Kinsella suggests clarity, authenticity and 'empathematics' - "feelings speak louder than words" - as the foundations for success with the electorate. That surprised me, as so few politicians seem to practice any of them.

Kinsella writes with bravado and is often quite funny.

Fight the Right was far from being a radical manifesto for the left, but it was entertaining - particularly as Canada enters a federal election notable for its obfuscation, phoniness, and indifference.

[Shirley]

A primer for wannabe campaigners.

Excellent analysis of how messaging works in a political campaign, and you should keep your message clear and concise. Breaks down why the right-wing message in North America has done this successfully for the past fifteen years, while the message from the left has been less clear.

[Beverly Akerman]

Interesting, as far as it goes. But mostly, mystifyingly, about the American right.

[Brian Greiner]

An interesting book, and useful in spots, but a bit uneven for me to be able to rate it any higher.