Conservatize Me: How I Tried to Become a Righty with the Help of Richard Nixon, Sean Hannity, Toby Keith, and Beef Jerky (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: little red hen, golden fiddle, conservative messages, The Experiment, President George, The Gay (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As a Seattle public radio commentator deeply entrenched in a liberal mindset, Moe wondered whether a sudden immersion in conservatism could change his worldview-so he saturated himself with nothing but right wing people, media and culture for an entire month. His subsequent misadventures are of uneven quality: thoughtful conversations with National Review editor Rich Lowry and talk radio host Michael Medved, among others, are interspersed with awkward attempts to provoke representatives of groups like the Family Research Council. At a visit to a fundamentalist church service, for example, he repeatedly asks if they'll be "able to stop The Gay" from destroying marriage. Moe also takes easy potshots at country music, SUVs and other red-state staples, and watches movies like Red Dawn and Forrest Gump for purported conservative themes. Conversations with conservative intellectuals, which force him to acknowledge greater shades of ambiguity, provide less fodder for mockery. His commonsense conclusion-exposure to new ideas can be eye opening, if not exactly transformative-will confirm the attitude of readers who have already embraced political complexity.
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Product Description

It has been said that everyone in America is firmly planted in red or blue—permanently conservative or irreversibly liberal. But are we all really that locked in to the left or the right? A lifelong liberal, John Moe was determined to find out. So he reset his radio dials from NPR to Rush Limbaugh, joined some of today's most influential conservative thinkers for a series of "conversion sessions," made pilgrimages to the Ronald Reagan and Richard M. Nixon museums, and spent the Fourth of July in the most Bush-friendly county in the country, in an attempt to discover if there was actually a conservative trapped inside him yearning to be set free.

Conservatize Me is a fresh, humorous, and highly entertaining look at our country's political landscape, one that will strike a powerful chord with millions of disgruntled Americans while stimulating the mind and tickling the funny bone.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition edition (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060854014
• ISBN-13: 978-0060854010
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,042,256 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fair, Balanced and Funny, October 8, 2006

By	Andy Jensen (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

I could give this hilarious and honest book to my granola-chewing Bush-hating mom and my hunting-loving, tax-cutting enviromental advisor to Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana) uncle (I'm not kidding) and they would both love it. Not only would they laugh but they each could quote parts of the book to each other and say "See this part here? It proves i'm right!"

Moe doesn't take any cheap shots at either the left or right like I did in my opening sentence, but simply recounts what it was like to immerse oneself in a conservative lifestyle and ideology.

Enjoy.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars delightfully funny exposé on those who are right, October 4, 2006

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A self proclaimed leftist, NPR talk-show host John Moe spent nine months limiting himself to known acceptable conservative groups for news such as the Washington Times, Fox News, Russ Limbaugh, Weekly Standard and National Review; country music stations only, and roving "Krystal Klear" milieus like rodeos and NASCAR. He visited the Reagan and Nixon Presidential Libraries (Nixon's contains his key scandal while Reagan's ignores his in spite of convictions and confessions with Bush senior pardons). Finally his objective was to better understand conservative thinking especially in America's Heartland.

Though anecdotal and often amusing, Mr. Moe concludes there are two types of conservatives in this country. On the one hand he disdains those he met at a college conference who in his mind are offspring of Machiavelli and Lady MacBeth, as power is everything (consider that war reelects presidents) or ignore negatives re their "heroes". On the other side, Mr. Moe admires Mayor Shawn Larsen of Rexburg, Idaho who is a devoted logical person wanting to make government effective and efficient. He admits being from liberal Seattle making the trek through the Red states at times felt like Frodo seeking to rid himself of the ring as the conservative take on movies make for an overall delightfully funny exposé on those who are right.

Harriet Klausner

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, October 20, 2006

By	A. Graf - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I first heard about this title, it sparked my interest. Anyone who pays any attention to politics always wants to know where the other side is comming from. Some like George Lakoff (Moral Politics) will look at the other side through a social psychological framework while others like Bill O'Reilly (Culture Warrior) will use a demonizing framework of the other side (traditional-conservatives are good, secular-progressives are bad). John Moe on the other hand wants to know where the other side is comming from by trying to become one of them. In a one month period, he reads only conservative literature and newspapers, and listens only to conservative talk shows and music like Tobe Keith, Kid Rock, and Lee Greenwood. He also talks to conservative heavyweights like Rich Lowery, William Kristol, Michael Medved (who by the way doesnt even like Fox News, gets a little embarassed by Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage, and prefers to listen to NPR), and talks with the mayor of the most conservative district in the United States.
Two things struck out to me while reading this book. One is that there no single archtype of conservative. Paleocons, Neocons, Christian Conservatives, National Defense Conservatives, etc. The other thing that struck out, and Moe mentioned this on Weekday on KUOW, is that the best way to get to learn the other side is to just listen. It is hard to get an understanding of the other side if you wont even give that person a chance to state their case. Even after listening to them, you may not agree with them but hopefully you have more respect as to where they are comming from. Something I think everyone needs to work on.
P.S. I still dont understand how beef jerky is conservative. I am liberal as hell and love beef jerky!