Customer Reviews

It's My Party, Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America

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Christine Todd Whitman's sober but eminently readable short book is a clarion call to moderates and true Republican conservatives alike, and, as such, should be warmly welcomed by liberals as well. In genial, accessible and melifluous prose, Governor Whitman reveals her experiences as a life-long Republican, both in the Governor's office in New Jersey, and as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency during much of President Baby Bush's first term in office. And much of what she has to say is truly chilling. Is this a scary book? You bet it is. If you have any interest in modern American politics, put down your Stephen King and read Whitman's assessment of her party's descent into kowtowing to the hard right wing. It's a whole lot more frightening.

Take, for example, her chapter on abortion, entitled The Party Within The Party. As she delinates her real position, as opposed to the position on the issue ascribed to her by the hard right wing of her political party, she offers a great deal of information about the drift rightward of her party, and the growing influence of the hard-liners, who have, she contends, left any connection with the bedrock values of the party to which they're laying claim, indulging instead in intrusive, and unconstitutional, legislation in order to further their social agenda. She says: "Frankly, it seemed to me at the time (and still does today) that their failure to take the path I had laid out suggested that they were more interested in having an issue than in saving the lives of unborn children." (p.87)

There is a bit of Queen Elizabeth I of England's political realism in Whimans's restrained and balanced approach, and I suspect that as distasteful to her as is the hard right's ideology, its lack of political flexibility and unwillingness to bend in the interests of getting the job accomplished are equally unappealing to her.

The intent of her book is to reunify her party along the lines that historically bound it: smaller, and accountable, government, strong defense, less intrusion into people's lives by governmental legislation and lower taxes. There has been criticism from the left about her unwillingness to tell all, and her reluctance to condemn the worst aspects of her party, the current President in particular. As a life-long liberal, and the child of children of Democrats, while I sympathize wholeheartly with that perspective, I also understand that the point of her book is not to 'tell all' in the vein of Andrew Morton's biography of Princess Diana. The point here is to educate, elucidate and illuminate, not sink to trashing the people who made her political experiences unpleasant.

I respect her reluctance to come across as a crybaby, which would have pleased my liberal friends, no doubt, but would not have accomplished her intent, which is to call her party back from the nether regions into which it has sunk. She is asking for political moderation so that in concert with other moderates across party lines, she, and others like her, can accomplish something good for the country, based on respect for the people who cast the ballots. Right now, that respect for the American people is sadly lacking in the party in power in Washington. She says as much, in chapter after chapter. I wish her luck in her efforts to swing her party back to sanity. It would be of benefit to us all if she and other moderate Republicans like her were successful.

As a lifelong moderate Republican, I've been increasingly dismayed at the rightward lurch of the party -- and especially by the intolerance of some on the right of those of us in the center. This book speaks clearly to the frustration moderates have felt over the past few years. Using compelling examples from her own career, Gov. Whitman shows how the party can succeed by reclaiming the sensible center. She does a nice job telling stories about her own long history in the party (she's attended every GOP convention since 1956), and is able to use that history to advance her argument. I hope she succeeds in starting a national discussion that helps the Republican Party realize that there's much to be gained by reclaiming it traditional roots. An important message and a great read!

This is the author's attempt to explain the need for moderation in the Republican as well as in the Democratic party. Both parties, especially the Republicans, have been moving away from the center which is polarizing the Country. So many moderates in the middle of the political spectrum have no place to go in either party.

The conservative Republicans could not have won without the support of the moderate Republicans. Moderate Republicans fully deserve to be represented by the party and to have their views respected.

Poor former Governor Whitman of New Jersey. She hasn't figured out yet what conservative Republicans have made abundantly clear: the "Religious Right- neo-libertarian- neo-con" faction of the Republican Party wishes to rule the Republican Party, with various leaders from within these factions acceptable so long as they agree to the policies of the rest of the faction. Anyone from the "moderate to liberal" (not that there are many liberals left within the Republican Party) will be tolerated so long as they help the conservative branch of the Republican Party object some objectives. Yet, once those objectives have been reached, there definitely is no room for moderates within the leadership of the Republican Party, according to this new generation of conservative Republican leadership.

Christine Todd Whitman believes there is room for moderate Republicans within the Republican Party and her book "It's My Party, Too" argues that moderate Republicans need to organize and demand their role in the leadership ranks. While she makes a passionate plea, she may soon have to realize what most moderate Republicans to the north of her, those in New England and New York, have already realized. There is no place for moderates within the Republican Party anymore. If you can not pass the litmus test that the new Republican leadership demands, you might as well stop wasting your time within the Republican Party. You will be much more comfortable within the Democratic Party.

Governor Whitman does make some excellent arguments in her book. She notes that when President Bush pushes the agenda demanded by the conservative Republicans--attempting to oust a Republican National Chairwoman because she's pro-choice, halting social security reform in order to push for a ban against gay marriage, making proclamations on the rights to terminate the life of someone who is brain dead, etc.--Bush loses popularity. That is because Whitman indeed is right when she observes that this agenda is not popular amongst the voters. The right wing has brought the Republican Party to a point where it is losing touch with a majority of voters. Yet, this right wing leadership at least should be credited for standing by what they believe, and they are not going to compromise with moderates, no matter how much the moderates believes compromise is possible. It is the goal of these conservatives to use the Republican Party to push their agenda. They are not in it for the good of the Republican Party, but for the specifics of their conservative agenda.

Whitman should read her own book again. She discusses how Karl Rove runs his agenda past James Dobson because the White House needs the approval of such conservative commentators as Dobson. She notes that values are important to voters, and then questions whether those values should be those limited to those as defined by evangelical Republican leaders. Her book describes how the Southern Strategy of the Republican Party appealed to base racist sentiments among Southern voters. In many instances, she describes how Republican conservatives are "outward hostile" to moderate Republicans. Her observations are correct. Her hope that this conservative leadership will change and accept moderates back into the party is wishful thinking, yet very unlikely.

The author warns--correctly--that this litmus test is slowly losing ground politically as more and more voters are rejecting this conservative agenda. More and more people are being shoved out of the Republican Party. For example, when conservative Republicans insisted that sexual education classes in public schools teach "abstinence only", many fed-up voters then left the Republican Party. She notes even Barry Goldwater, who was pro-choice on abortion and supported allowing gays into the military, would be unacceptable as a Republican leader today. She believes that moderates can save this sinking political ship, yet I suspect the best moderates can offer is to go down with conservatives on a sinking ship which moderates may not even agree should be kept afloat.

Christine Todd Whitman took some commendable actions as Governor. She had the New Jersey police review their policies regarding racial profiling. Yet, as noted even in her own book: none of her other Republican Governors have followed her with a similar review. As Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, the reader truly believes that she was concerned about the environment. Yet, her book tells how Vice President Cheney's energy task force undermined her good intentions. Instead, the Bush Administration ignored her and acted on behalf of industries which desired fewer environmental controls. Mrs. Whitman should eventually come to this realization: you may have good intentions, but your fellow Republicans don't. Don't expect them to change to your views. Their views are set.

Criticism holds more weight when derived from an internal, derived, credible source. That's true in sports, business, and politics. Consequently, Whitman's insider claims are worthy of consideration and evaluation.

One of her principal claims is, "The numbers show that while the president certainly did energize his political base, the red state/blue state map changed barely at all -- suggesting that he had missed an opportunity to significantly broaden his support in the most populous areas of the country," This is likely a valid criticism, one that goes beyond party lines as it applies to both parties equally.

Whitman was often at odds with the White House on issues such as setting limits on air pollutants, power plant emissions and global warming. Her tenure was marked by complaints from conservatives that she was too liberal. I wish her book had included specifics regarding her proposals, including the costs to businesses and the benefits to the environment. In short, a cost/benefit analysis would have been helpful in determining the merit of what she was fighting for.

One thing that struck me is how much of the book appeared to be the antithesis of Zel Miller's. For instance, she writes, "A clear and present danger Republicans face today is that the party will now move so far to the right that it ends up alienating centrist voters and marginalizing itself," I wonder if she read Miller's book?

Whitman writes, "It is time for Republican moderates to assert forcefully and plainly that this is our party, too, that we not only have a place but a voice, and not just a voice but a vision that is true to the historic principles of our party and our nation, not one tied to an extremist agenda," Were those same moderate Republicans happy with a Bush victory? She'd have a tough time convincing anyone moderate Republicans were hoping for a Bush loss.

Certainly, Whitman was a bit of a misfit in the Bush Cabinet, coming in as an abortion supporter, and taking a job that is not a quick route to popularity in a GOP administration. Regarding diversity in the differing parties, I wonder how many pro-life candidates were considered for the same role in the Clinton administration. Doesn't Bush's appointing Whitman to this position demonstrate his willingness to reach out to such Republicans? If so, and Bush is now maligned by such a book, how willing will he be to make similar concessions in the future? Maybe the carrot approach (praising the good) would have been more productive for Whitman to use instead of the stick (criticizing the bad)?

Ms. Whitman is dead on correct.. The far right is killing our party. Yeah, there's been some big elections the past 8-10 years, but I'm becoming ashamed of many of our tactics. The best leaders of our party are John McCain, Rudy, etc., the folks who understand moderation. So many in our party, driven by the big dollar donations, haven't a shred of good common sense anymore.

At the beggining of "It's My Party Too," Christine Todd Whitman throws out a statistic: George W. Bush was reelected in 2004 by the smallest margin ever (3%) of any sitting president to win reelection (let alone a war time president)! This statistic is meant to give more import to her book's thesis: as the republican majority really is razor thin, the party's steady move rightward can only serve to disenchant moderates and, in effect, fracture the party.

Christie Todd Whitman, of course, has served as a republican governor of New Jersey and EPA adminstrator under George W. Bush. She is also, unfortunately for her, a moderate in a party increasingly dominated by right wingers. In the book, she retells how she (and others like her) has (have) been censored, reprimanded and double crossed by members of her own party for expressing moderate views on things from abortion and environmental protection to stem cell research. (This includes her retelling of an interesting brouhaha she caused in the republican party when she came forward expressing 'moderate' views on abortion as governor).

Part and parcel to Mrs. Whitman's view is an ongoing contrast she makes between the republican party her parents knew and the party she knows. The one her parents knew was a diverse party of diverse viewpoints big enough to hold Phyllis Schlaffley (social conervative), Barry Goldwater (libertarian) and Richard Nixon (by most counts, a moderate). The party she knows today is one which excoriates moderates like Arlen Specter for the mere suggestion that they might support a judge who believes Roe v. Wade should be upheld; a party where the president's reeleciton strategy is to appeal to a righward subsection of its base rather than swing voters, and in so doing, crafting its policy agenda to pander to that subsection. In effect, Mrs. Whitman longs for a day when the republlican party aims not for lockstep ideological purity, but is open about being able to house a diversity of views and stances.

The biggest problem I have with this book is that while in some senses she is right about the republicans righward tilt, in others she is equally wrong. Just think about some of the new republican superstars: Rudolph Giuliani, George Pataki, Arnold Shwarzenegger, John McCain, etc. All of these are moderates (and all spoke at the well recieved Republican National Convention, presumably at the behest of the Republican party). What befuddles me is that Whitman admits all this in her book (a few paragraphs are devoted to it), but never explains how this does anything but dents her thesis.

The only other negative about this otherwise decent read is that she meanders quite often into seemingly irrelevant asides. The biggest being a chapter on the republican party's problems with capturing 'the black vote.' Most of this chapter is spent talking about why the republican party truly deserves the black vote. Whether true or false, one is left wondering what this chapter is doing in a book about the rightward move of the republican party (instead of, say, an anthology of essays about "Why the Republicans Deserve the Black Vote.") Another chapter, recounting her tribulations as head of the EPA, begins with a many page exposition of why Mrs. Whitman loves nature and likes living on a working farm called Pontefract. As this is a political book with a political topic, asides like this might be attractive in and of themselve (or not), but they become distracting from the book's purpose.

To close, I enjoyed Mrs. Whitman's book exposing what she sees as a legitimate threat to the republican party and their future. However, I must subtract at least one star for her failure to note that the existence of highly successful moderates within the current party at least dents her theory. I must also subtract a bit for the (what I found) distracting areas of the book that meander and stray from the immediate subject. Still, this should be a book that concerned republicans read.

OK, I really wanted to like this book. I too, share Whitman's frustration at seeing my party overtaken by the extremist wing. So I expected to read a war plan outlining strategies to achieve a more balanced centrist party. What a disappointment. This book is more memoir than politcal stategy roadmap. And Whitman's constant admissions that she was "taken aback, "stunned and shocked" at reactions from political opponents only serves to demonstrate how naive she is and undermines her political gravitas. The droning on and on about the environment put me to sleep, her assertion that the GOP must reach out to miniorites was quite "shocking" to me. Christie, tell me something I don't know. I learned little, if anything, from this book and I do not recommend it.

This book was less environmentally-oriented than I'd expected. Whitman waits ~2/3 of the way through her book (chapter 5 of 7) to finally share her personal connection to the natural environment and details of her frustrations as EPA Administrator.

Those seeking harsh, insider critique of Bush's environmental record might look elsewhere. Whitman's criticisms are few and far between, and even then her language is overly forgiving (for obvious political reasons, but disappointing nonetheless).

Still, I found Whitman's case for political moderation to be compelling and engaging. As a Democrat, I find similar frustrations with the far left as Whitman does with the far right. Many of the lessons/wisdoms here certainly apply to the Democratic party as well.

Despite some typos, stylistic glitches, and lack of mid-chapter breaks, this book reads easily and quickly. A good summer read.

In summary, I'd recommend this book for those interested in a "radical moderate's" view of the GOP and US politics in general. I would NOT recommend this as a hard-core environmental read, nor for those seeking a Bush-bashing book.

Of course the parties are becoming too extreme. But, is that really the fault of a few political leaders or is it due to the money of lobbyists who are taking control from the general public. I believe that Whitman's arguments are sound; not only for politics but for any group working together for a common goal. You must come together and compromise in order to get the best possible for the group. We cannot let power hungry players make the choices because they will end up moving the group to the extreme. I also thought that Whitman had some interesting ideas on how to get more women and minorities into politics. We need to make sure that our government more closely represents the gender and race of America as a whole.