A guide to the main issues facing America leading up to the last presidential elections of the 20th century, seen through the eyes of editors and writers of "The New Republic" magazine. Issues covered include abortion, civil rights, crime, health-care, taxes and national security.
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Editorial Reviews
From Kirkus Reviews
Joining a mighty stream of political titles appearing between now and Election Day, these 43 typically trenchant essays from the high-buzz Washington journal delight in tweaking conservative noses--and liberal ones, too. The 17 issues covered here range from A (abortion) to near-Z (welfare reform). Foreign-policy mavens will find only one issue (free trade) for them; even military spending is omitted. Also missing are discussions of gay issues--especially surprising given the frequent coverage of this subject under departing editor Andrew Sullivan. Yet there is still enough here to raise hackles, spark laughs, and provoke thought. As Lind (The Next American Nation, 1995) points out in the introduction, the magazine's readers ``enjoy the parade of iconoclastic viewpoints and the occasional fractious debate among senior editors'' (of whom Lind is one). For instance, the health care section begins with Mickey Kaus's ``HMOphobia,'' includes Elizabeth McCaughey's ``No Exit,'' which rallied right-wing intellectual opposition to the Clinton health plan (and propelled its author into a successful candidacy for the lieutenant governorship of New York), and concludes with Kaus's tart ``No Exegesis,'' which charges that McCaughey ``completely distorted the debate on the biggest public policy issue of 1994.'' Sometimes the focus is on anguished responses to issues (e.g., Naomi Wolf on feminists' abortion rhetoric and Glenn Loury on urban black crime). More often, however, the tone is irreverent as the authors dissect subjects inadequately covered in the general media because of their complexity, such as Michael Kinsley's evisceration of capital gains taxes, John Judis's ``The Contract with K Street,'' which puts the lobbying industry under the microscope, and Steve Tidrick's ``The Budget Inferno,'' which uses Dante's version of Hell as a metaphor for the way in which the federal government subsidizes corporations, industries, and individuals. Amid the usual gaffe-and-gotcha campaign journalism (which TNR itself has sometimes been guilty of), a bracing reminder of the enduring issues. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
a refreshing new look on the issues,
By A Customer
This review is from: The New Republic Guide to the Issues: The '96 Campaign (Paperback)
As someone who doesn't claim to have all the answers, and readily admits that most issues are not as 'black and white' as the two sides present them, I enjoyed this fresh look at the issues (from abortion, to budget balancing, to welfare). Although geared towards the '96 campaign I think these essays are still very relevant and offer fair, well thought out views/compromises on many of the issues. Although I didn't always agree with them completely, these essays certainly gave me new ways to think about the issues and about the complicated nature of them.
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