It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP [Hardcover]

Peter Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 18, 2000

Peter Robinson has Republican parents and grew up in a Republican neighborhood. In college he helped found the notorious Dartmouth Review and infuriated dons at Oxford by revealing an enthusiasm for Margaret Thatcher. He returned to the United States to accept a position as a speechwriter in the White House of both Reagan and Bush. Nevertheless, this inveterate political insider has come forward with a no-holds-barred, honest appraisal of the party that owns his heart. In a political book with attitude, Robinson shares his sometimes angry, sometimes befuddled, sometimes downright amused perspective on the most pressing questions facing the party and the voting public. "It's My Party" promises to be one of the year's most entertaining and perceptive looks at America's political battlefield.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Robinson, a former Reagan speechwriter (now a Hoover Institution fellow and host of PBS's Uncommon Knowledge), presents "a travel book, one tourist's notes as he journeyed across the territory of the Republican Party" in search of what it stands for now that Reagan is gone. Along the way. he looks at the party's history, its fortunes in the South, relations with Hollywood and the press, party loyalties and ethnicity/religion/geography/culture, women and the gender gap, a comparison of Republican fortunes on national and local fronts, and two candidates: George W. Bush and, rather unfortunately, Rudy Giuliani (who has since withdrawn from the New York senatorial race). Robinson is a Reaganite, a true believer who agreed with "nearly every word Ronald Reagan uttered," and this makes his assessment of the party somewhat predictable. However, he also displays what has become a rare quality: healthy partisanship. Rather than simply worshiping whatever can be labeled "Republican," Robinson expresses a desire to improve the party and its chances for success even if that calls for recognizing Republican foibles. He suggests, for example, that narrowing the gender gap is going to require making appeals to the concerns of women, and that this is not all bad; instead of taking an unyieldingly tough line on social issues, "showing a little heart would do the party good." He recognizes that at times the party can seem "absurd" and "pigheaded" without discarding his belief in its central principles, especially standing for "traditional morality." Even non-Republicans will find this kind of mild but honest criticism interesting, especially since Robinson professes his "love" for the party without insulting anyone not similarly inclined. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This lighthearted look at the Republican Party is intended for the reader who "has no desire to master the minutiae of the Republican Party, just a sense that he'd like to look into it a little" says Robinson, cofounder of the Dartmouth Review, former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan and George Bush, and host of the PBS talk show Uncommon Knowledge. The author bases his material on the journal he kept as he traveled around the country this spring talking with Republicans in and out of government to get a sense of the party's demographic and geographic composition. His analysis is superficial and largely uncritical, although he admits that by failing to find ways to appeal to minority, ethnic, and female voters, the party limits its chances of winning in national and many statewide elections. An optional choice for public libraries.DJill Ortner, SUNY at Buffalo Lib.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (August 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446526657
• ISBN-13: 978-0446526654
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,326,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Quick Tour of the Republican Party, July 29, 2000

By 

Walter B. Stahr (Vienna, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP (Hardcover)

Peter Robinson poses a simple question: who are these people, the Republicans? He proceeds to answer it with a series of interesting interviews and portraits from around the country: with leaders on Capitol Hill, with governors and would-be governors (his interview with Giuliani makes one wish he were still in the race), with academics, with ordinary folk. Although the questions Robinson poses are serious -- why are men more likely than women to vote Republican -- and although the answers he gives often insightful -- his tone is consistently light and often laugh-out-loud funny. In short, this is a book that one can take to the beach, or indeed anywhere, read relatively quickly, and yet learn something about the GOP, and indeed America. A great book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More fun than a Republican should have, September 12, 2000

By 

countrylibrarian "countrylibrarian" (Newport Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP (Hardcover)

Finally, an answer to the question - why the heck AM I a Republican?? Aside from being very well written and a lot of fun, there's a lot of truth here. I found myself nodding in agreement in almost every chapter. Definitely a must read for the curious Republican - and any Democrat who knows one!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The GOP for the Rest of US, September 23, 2000

By 

Clark S. Judge (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP (Hardcover)

You don't have to be a Republican to enjoy Peter Robinson's "It's My Party." At the start, Robinson tells us that we're about to follow him on a tour of the GOP, circa 2000. We do, but somehow along the way we learn almost as much about the Democrats and about political America generally, how it got this way and where it is going. Robinson writes like a humorist, and so he's an easy read -- lots of fun. But don't let his wit fool you. Even as you're chuckling, he's sketching for you an extraordinarily sophisticated and penetrating portrait of our nation and the great institutions, issues and trends that are shaping it as it enters the new millenium. I enjoyed every chapter and, when I finished, felt tremendously glad that I'd read it.