Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians

by Laura Flanders

A searing attack on the Democrats from one of today's most engaging political voices, and an incisive strategy for victory over the Republican party

Air America Radio host, Laura Flanders, the best-selling author of "Bushwomen," believes there are no such things as "red" and "blue" states. Even in the most surprising places, she's finding progressive change. From Vermont to Salt Lake City to Las Vegas's famous Strip, she journeys through the heartland USA and discovers a simple truth: people don't vote for the GOP because Republicans represent their interests; they vote Republican because Democrats barely field a team.

Adamant, opinionated, funny, and always engaging, Flanders chronicles what she's learned from scores of voters and activists-about how change is happening in Main St. USA, even if it rarely catches the attention of the so-called mainstream media. Mormons defending women's rights, casino owners teaming up with waitresses to raise the minimum wage; blue collar construction workers and lesbian mothers working together to make their workplaces safer and more secure for all. Flanders finds young, supposedly "alienated" Americans, who are driving scores of new voters to the polls.

Fiery polemic, assured narrative, and acute political commentary, Blue Grit will be crucial reading for everyone interested in the future of the Democrats, and this country. Based on Flanders' bottom-up style of journalism, it tells a story of good news: progressives are coming after the conservative establishment with new talent, new ideas, newmedia and new cash, and they have their sights set on building a new progressive movement, whether the Democratic Party is ready or not.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Laura Flanders is a British-born US-based journalist who presents the current events show GRITtv, broadcast weekdays on Link and Free Speech TV.

She has written for The Nation, In These Times, The Progressive and Ms. Magazine, and has contributed op-ed pieces to the San Francisco Chronicle. Flanders hosted the weekday radio show Your Call on KALW, before starting the Saturday/Sunday evening Laura Flanders Show on Air America Radio in 2004. It became the weekly one-hour Radio Nation in 2007. She was founding director of the women's desk at the media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), and for a decade produced and hosted CounterSpin, FAIR's syndicated radio program.

Flanders has published four books: Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians (2007); Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species (2004), a study of the women in George W. Bush's cabinet; and a collection of essays, Real Majority, Media Minority: The Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting (1997). She edited The W Effect: Sexual Politics in the Age of Bush (2004).

Her TV appearances include Lou Dobbs Tonight, The O'Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes, Washington Journal, Donahue, Good Morning America, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Ed Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV news discussion program counterSpin (not to be confused with the FAIR show of the same name).

Flanders has described herself as a "liberal, lefty person." She is the daughter of the British comic songwriter and broadcaster Michael Flanders and his wife Claudia Cockburn. The brothers Alexander, Andrew and Patrick Cockburn all journalists, are her uncles. Her sister is Stephanie Flanders, a BBC journalist.

Reviews

[Leena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really a radio listener, so I was unfamiliar with Flanders when I went to see her speak at the local "Sanctuary for Independent Media." But I am a feminist and a media junkie, so it turns out I was familiar with a lot of her work, such as starting the women's desk at FAIR (Fairness and accuracy in reporting). I left the talk armed with a signed copy of this book.

For me, it was one of those books that flushed me with relief - relief that I wasn't the only one frustrated with my political party (the Democrats). I wasn't the only Democrat who was confused and disheartened by the continual shift to the center, while ignoring or taking the very base of the party for granted.

This book talks about those ignored activists. How the Democratic party needs to embrace the margins to strengthen ourselves again.

It starts off strong, with visits to various states to discover what a Democrat truely is. As the book went on, it got a little more muddled. I stopped halfway in, during the chapter on budgeting, because I just found that truely boring. But it picked up again with the chapter, "Learn to Love the Culture Wars."

It's not a preachy book. She doesn't tell you who you should vote for. She just show you what activists around the country are doing - often contrary to what party leaders would like - and the success of those actions.

[Scot · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, Laura Flanders is a great political reporter and analyst. I always find her interesting, useful, thought-provoking. This particular book is a breath of fresh air because, unlike a lot of political books written from a progressive point of view, this book offers good news. There's lots of useful information and inspirational stories, and it's all written in a very accessible style. It's a fast read and one that will leave you, if you're like me, feeling a little bit better about the possibilities for positive change in the world.

[Colin Bruce Anthes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being in-depth reporting, some chapters are a bit bogged down with dated affairs. But Flanders is marvelous, here and in general, at showing how progressives make many allies, often unexpected ones, when they swing into action rather than dream about it.