Customer Reviews

Democrats and Republicans - Rhetoric and Reality: Comparing the Voters in Statistics and Anecdotes

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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This is a good book if you like to make decisions based upon data, not emotion or political hype.

Joseph Fried has done a remarkable job of separating facts from fiction about Democrats and Republicans. Joseph answers far ranging questions from intelligence to who pays more taxes. His analysis and conclusions are unbiased and based upon data and statistical analysis from solid sources.

Although the many charts and graphs are a little mind boggling for the average reader to comprehend, Joseph clearly separates political rhetoric from reality as his title implies.

I found that Chapter 12 was the most useful as it contains Lessons Learned and the authors opinions. This chapter is particularly noteworthy as it summarizes factors affecting a person's happiness based upon relative decision-making throughout one's life.

Reading this chapter should be a graduation requirement for every high school or college student in this country. From teen parenting to getting a diploma or degree, Joseph shows the lifetime consequences of ones' early decisions and how that decision follows a person throughout their life in terms of happiness.

Generally, this is a good book, with a wealth of stats - some quite surprising. At times I think the author almosts gives too much in the way of info. This book is a little similar to Makers and Takers, a book that was recently published about libs and conservatives. But Dems and Reps seems to be more objective and more comprehensive than Makers/Takers. Recommended reading.

This book is a mass of stats, but the many graphs and charts and tables make it fairly easy to decipher. Some of the findings are pretty surprising. If you have any interest in politics the book is worth having.

I own the book. It's a great reference, and one that utterly demolishes a reference book worth of erroneous stereotypes. I have urged scores of colleagues to buy it.