Infinite MonkeysWell, I just finished Hugh Hewitt's new book, which I read with pen in hand. As I have time over the next several weeks, I'm going to blog my impressions, one chapter at a time. I am not going to quote the book profusely (you'll have to get your own copy), but I will attempt to give page numbers so others can follow along and offer their own commentary.
Let's all chat about the book, shall we? Make sure you use Trackback for each chapter so everyone will be able to find your comments. If you're not using Moveable Type, send us an e-mail and we'll post your URL in our comments section.
Before I start my chapter-by-chapter rantings, I'll give a brief review of the book as a whole:
On the one hand, the book is infuriating, because it reinforces everything I hate about contemporary politics, particularly the two-party stranglehold on real debate. However, it is also an excellent (and candid) primer on exactly how the parties think about and manipulate the electorate. For Hewitt (and virtually all politicians), job one is winning and expanding the power of the party. The sooner we all realize that, the better - neither party cares about our well being, except as a means to the expansion of its own power.
Of course, you may think expansion of major party power is a good thing, and if you do, this book gives very pragmatic advice on how to accomplish that goal. Hewitt honestly believes our lives depend on Republican victory, and for forty chapters (don't worry - the book's only 220 pages, not counting appendices) he explains numerous ways that victory can be secured. Of course, there's no reason to believe that the advice is not also quite useful to Democrats - the names of the issues change, but the strategies don't.
For Libertarians, Independents, Greens, and disillusioned former participants in the political system, this book can be useful as a wake-up call - not to embrace the tactics of the major parties, but to understand them so that we can expose them and reject them. More than half of the eligible voters in this country never bother to vote. Even if nobody from the majors defects, if only a healthy minority of the non-voters could be motivated to stand up and reject the status quo by voting for ANYBODY else, in this age of slim-margin elections and narrow pluralities, perhaps the important issues will get some discussion.
Or perhaps I'm too optimistic. In either case, buy (or borrow) the book and understand what you mean to the major parties.
Posted by RobbL at August 29, 2004 11:12 PM | TrackBack