Had Enough?: A Handbook for Fighting Back [Hardcover]

James Carville (Author), Jeff Nussbaum (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2003

Have you had enough of George W. Bush and the Republican right? Are you sick and tired of the tax-cutting, environment-desecrating, secret-keeping, influence-peddling, war-mongering, free speech-hating hypocrites who occupy America's halls of power? If so, you have company -- James Carville.

Like James Carville, America has been bruised and battered by the Republicans who are running our country and running it into the ground. The Bush administration has squandered a five-trillion-dollar surplus and created a five-trillion-dollar projected deficit. Their tax cut for the rich was supposed to create jobs -- but instead America has lost more than three million of them. This administration was supposed to bring honor and dignity to the White House but instead brought lies, leaks, secrecy, and fear. They promised to make the country stronger and safer but instead they've left us overstretched, isolated, and insecure.

And Carville has had enough.

In Had Enough? the legendary political adviser comes out of his corner swinging, taking on the Bush White House and the Republican leaders in Congress on every front -- from the economy to education to foreign affairs. But he doesn't just attack; he lays out constructive "had enough" solutions for healing the damage done by the Republicans and helping disheartened Democrats get back on their feet. In addition, he offers "Ten Rules for Progressives to Live By" and a new War Room mantra for a new era.

Had Enough? is a rousing handbook for taking back the country, for fighting back the right wing, and for returning the power to the people.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Veteran political strategist James Carville has always had a knack for being concise. He is, after all, credited with coining "It's the economy, stupid" while directing the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. And as host of CNN's Crossfire, he favored a combative in-your-face approach that stood in stark contrast to the stereotype of the mushy liberal. In Had Enough, Carville, along with co-author Jeff Nussbaum, takes that economic phrasing and aggressive style to offer a handbook for lefties tired of losing arguments and elections. To point out how fundamentally misguided he believes the GOP to be, Carville goes straight to the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. While Republicans can be credited with providing for the common defense, Carville says, they have failed miserably on all other directives issued by the founding fathers on what government is supposed to do, including promoting the general welfare, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, and securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and posterity. Although the arguments are not remarkably different from those made in a slew of other lefty books (Bush's tax cuts favor the rich, Republicans seek to curtail civil liberties), the book also offers "Had Enough" solutions to pressing issues of public policy that will come in handy for liberals looking to defeat a conservative brother-in-law in a political argument or even hold their own on Crossfire. These solutions always sound eminently reasonable, although that's due in large part to their being contrasted to Carville's interpretation of Bush and company's approach ("Use everything as an excuse to dig, drill, and burn.") Still, Carville and Nussbaum make a cogent, impassioned, and highly entertaining indictment of the Bush administration, which, combined with a smattering of incongruously placed but nonetheless tempting Cajun recipes, makes Had Enough a worthwhile read. --John Moe

From Publishers Weekly

For liberals who think Al Franken and Michael Moore show too much restraint, the Ragin' Cajun launches another no-holds-barred assault on the conservative powers-that-be. Carville's shtick remains intact, so the political commentary is saturated with jokes about being married to a Republican, stories about his family down in Louisiana and recipes for barbecue shrimp and bread pudding. But if you thought he was mad before, wait until Carville tears into George W. Bush and his administration. Not content with merely attacking Bush's Iraqi war strategy, Carville denigrates the entire war on terrorism, reminding readers that Senate Democrats proposed tougher homeland security proposals that the president consistently rejected. He also suggests that not only could Gore have handled 9/11 better, it probably wouldn't even have happened. And he's just getting started at that point, gearing up for tough criticism of tax cuts, school vouchers, tort reform and other GOP policies. But finger-pointing isn't enough; Carville provides a "nice little progressive playbook" of counterstrategies to rebuild economically and socially the way he says only Democrats can. It's hard to tell sometimes whether he's putting on his pitbull act: the "fuel or freedom" tax on SUV owners is probably satirical, but a full ban on contributions to incumbent congresspeople is so radical it's got to be serious. As Howard Dean recently proved, Democratic candidates still turn to Carville for talking points, so don't be surprised to see some of these proposals raised on the campaign trail next year.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743255755
• ISBN-13: 978-0743255752
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,192,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Stop apologizing for everything", January 18, 2004

By 

C. Haaker "cherylfromalbuquerque" (albuquerque, nm United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Had Enough?: A Handbook for Fighting Back (Hardcover)

This is James Carville's first rule for Democrats. His excellent book details what the Democratic Party has to feel proud about, which includes Social Security, Medicare, public schools, regulation of the financial markets, food safety, etc ... basically, examples of the government performing actions that benefit its people. He contrasts this with the current neo-conman government of Mr Bush and his father's staff, which has been a "pay to play" operation restricted to participation by the wealthy. Then Carville proposes progressive (aka "liberal") solutions.

This is a great book to get Democrats, maybe even Greens, fired up and ready to engage in the Political Process. To provide that additional kick in the a$$ (the book uses a lot of foul language*), Carville leaves the reader with a list of things they can do, concluding with "Be Positive" (and a recipe for bread pudding with hard sauce.)

If you're angry or depressed with the current state of the nation, read this book! Then resolve to take at least one "action" per week.

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footnote: * Mr Carville is inclined to use salty language, as does Al ("Lies and the Lying Liars") Franken. For this reason, conservatives will probably want to avoid this book, so as not to get their delicate sensibilities offended. But genuine conservatives might learn something about how "their" government has been acting since Mr Bush began squatting in the White House, so I recommend they give "Had Enough" a try, too.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Being Liberal Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry, February 5, 2004

By 

Joe Eshleman (bratenahl, ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Had Enough?: A Handbook for Fighting Back (Hardcover)

Had enough is James Carville's best book to date. On the cover he sports a shiner which reminds readers of his committment to change, and to getting this country back on track. He looks just like an ol' junkyard dog. He aims to go after the Republican right-wing and get his readers stewed up in the process.

Speaking of stew, he has several of his mamma's, Miss Nippy's, down home Cajun recipes in the book, and Republicans can buy it just for the culinary hints. Of course, they might want to shy away from Carville's own recipe for roast elephant, though I find it quite appealing.

This Cajun version of Howard Beale has had enough, and his book tells readers not just his gripes, but what he intends to do about them. And he tells readers not just to complain but to do somethin.' First, he tells them to stop apologizing for being liberal or progressive, thus the review's title and the book's premise. Repulicans should apologize not us. This admonition is the first of "Ten Rules for Progressives to Live by."

Carville is no vacillating analyst; he is an infromed, unaplopgetic, partisan with a penchant for factual evidence, something sorely missing in many a right-wing argument he would argue. He tells Democarts that we have to articulte solutions not just problems. He offers a charming story by the late Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburne. He likened the Democratic party to a donkey who could kick down a barn, but darn if he find it in him to build one. Carville teaches progressives to build a movement.

The focus of his book is on the six purposes of government enumerated in the Preamble to the Constitution. He looks at domestic policies and issues that are meant to fulfill these objectives. He gives the "Bush Response" and the "Had Enough Solution." The six sections of the book concern these purposes:"The Common Defense," "The General Welfare," "The Blessing of Liberty on Ourselves and Our Posterity," "Establish Justice," "Insure Domestic Tranquility,"and "To Form a More Perfect Union."

The limit of space is such that I can only give a few highlights
The book is full of arresting facts, charts, and statistics that support his arguments. He demonstrates that lower taxes, especially on the rich, are not neccesarily a good thing. Of 30 relatively advanced countries commited to democracy and market economies, only Mexico (the least advanced) has a lower tax rate than the US. Still, Mexicans come across the border in profusion dispite our higher tax rates. Low taxes have not saved Mexico from being an economic basketcase. He says that because Republicans like to use the 1963 tax cut by Kennedy as an example of how " rising tide lifts all ships" we should reinstitute President Kennedy's 70 percent rate. He dropped it from 91 percent. Twice tried twice failed, he says of the Bush tax cuts. He offers the homespun analogy of a guy who digs a hole he can't get out of and then asks for another shovel.

On a variety of issues from health care to homeland defense, he offers what the president has done and what he would do to fix it. The book pulls no punches, as you can ascertain from the cover art. Carville contrasts President Roosevelt's call to sacrifice in World War 11 with Bush's admonition that we "shop til we drop" in the war on terror.

In closing he gives nine actions that progressives can do to call out the Republicans and let the right-wing know that their game is exposed. He says be specific and he closes with number nine--BE POSITIVE!

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smear this!, February 7, 2004

By 

Ben Mack (Nacirema) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Had Enough?: A Handbook for Fighting Back (Hardcover)

Dear reader and potential reviewer:

If you are going to smear this book, please give some substantiated specifics why it is bad or evil or wrong. Stating that this book "smears" Republicans occurs to me as the type of vacuous tactic that has been working for a long time. Non-republicans: Stop letting these sophmoric tactics work. Buy this book and learn how to defend factual observations of world events and our economy.

I have a partisan perspective. I feel that a strategy is only as sound as the facts on which they are based. When there are intentional lies, then what is called strategy is actually propaganda. Often, propaganda calls its opposition propaganda.

You must discern for yourself what is real. The facts presented in this book, facts that are substantiated by more than quoting one's own side, demand a reinterpretation of "news" on mainstream media.

If you don't like the way things are working, read this book, join an effective conversation.