Permanently Blue: How Democrats Can End the Republican Party and Rule the Next Generation

by Dylan Loewe

In 2008 Democrats accomplished the political trifecta that had eluded them for more than 40   get a progressive president elected and win landslide victories in the House and Senate at the same time.  The question is, was that the high point for the party? Or was it just the beginning of a Democratic golden age? 

As author Dylan Loewe compellingly argues, Democrats now have a unique chance to make their majority permanent and to dominate politics for a generation to come—provided they recognize their opportunity and employ the right strategies to capitalize on it.  From the midterms and redistricting to Obama’s reelection, from the search for his successor in 2016 to the changing political landscape in 2020 and beyond, Loewe walks readers through what it will take for Democrats to stay in power and why the possibility of turning the nation “permanently blue” is suddenly so bright.

Genres: Politics

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2010

Reviews

[eden · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is both very telling and pretty ridiculous. I'm actually pretty surprised that it was published, that money was spent to make it available to the public, as it's not intellectually or informationally substantial.

Anyway, Dylan Loewe has a few good things to say about the media. It's obvious from his actual blog posts on the Huffington Post website that he doesn't really believe these Few Good Things, but I guess it's enough that the reader recognizes them as true.

I saw this in the bookstore and was so astounded by the title that I went home immediately and ordered it from the library. See, for all the Left's talk about the Right's hostility and violence, I've never come across a conservative book that actually advocates ENDING the Democratic Party. (And elsewhere in the book, Loewe describes Democratic candidates as needing to "knock off" their Republican opposition. Knock off, as in, "neutralize: get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing." Now, I don't believe that this kind of political language is responsible for the actual physical violence that the occasional looney -- read: Loughner -- perpetrates. But I just wanted to point out that this is far more threatening language than any I've seen come out of the Republicans.) Anyway, that's why I picked up this book in the first place: I was intrigued as to what a book so-titled could contain.

Well, here's a few gems that stuck out to me:

"Compromise on legislation infuriates the left."
"Democrats must avoid the temptation of bipartisanship."
"In a democracy, power is earned."

These, along with details of some shady Democratic tactics, comprise the "very telling" part of the book. While this kind of sentimentalism is very comforting/cute/fluffy/etc (and some of those "52s" might have even meant what they said), it's not a reality, as has been demonstrated by Obama and the Democrats since they took office and have gleefully passed legislation with zero Republican support. At least Dylan Loewe verbalizes what is completely obvious to anyone with a healthy dose of reason and skepticism -- that all the Democrat talk of bipartisanship is a load of bunk, that they don't really give a good damn about compromising with the rest of the country (for as long as they hold the reins, that is).

[As to that last quotation, I guess I'd say something more like "In a democracy, power is lent." I'd say the "power is earned" bit is pretty representative of the liberal viewpoint (although, "money is earned" seems totally incomprehensible to them), but just think about the implications of that. It leads to exactly what's happened in the past two years -- total disregard of those who lent the power in the first place.]

Then there are the contradictions in the book. Examples: urging the Democrats to take the blame for what goes wrong, while simultaneously and constantly blaming Bush and Republicans for pretty much everything; urging that, in the future when they will supposedly have a permanent majority, the Democats do what the public at large wants, while endorsing current moves by Obama that the public has overwhelmingly decreed they oppose; then there's the actual statistics referenced by Loewe that change depending on what chapter you're reading (yes, really).

Then there's plain inaccuracies. There are many, but the one that stood out to me the most was where Loewe says that Obama has "ended federal restrictions on stem cell research." The reason this stuck out to me is that I read Sam Harris's The Moral Landscape directly before reading this, and Harris bemoans the fact that Obama has not ended federal restrictions on stem cell research. So there's that.

Not that I think getting facts wrong will bother Loewe too much, as this book is mostly a work of political delusion and wishful thinking (which was demonstrated by what actually occurred in the Nov 2010 elections).

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really an article in book form, which isn't a bad thing as it avoids getting bogged down that way; I read it in a couple of hours. Basic premise holds, in spite of his under-estimating the opposition's mid-term gains.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author was a bit off with predictions, but still an interesting read.