The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake DemocraticPolitics [Hardcover]

Matt Bai (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 16, 2007

Drawing on remarkable access to myriad factions of the Democratic Party, The New York Times Magazine writer Matt Bai distills the party's future prospects and current dilemmas in this raucous and devastating account of the party's search for The Argument that fits the twenty-first century.

Great political movements need more than a bunch of shared principles; they need an argument. The New Dealers had one. So did the Goldwater conservatives. So what's the progressive argument? What new path are Democrats urging us to choose in the era of Wal-Mart, Al Qaeda, and YouTube? Matt Bai seeks answers in The Argument, a book that brings you deep inside the turbulent, confusing new world of Democratic politics, where billionaires and bloggers are battling politicians and consultants over the future of a once-great party.

Beginning with the devastating election of 2004 and ending with an unexpected triumph in the 2006 congressional elections and the run-up to the 2008 campaign, Bai's book follows such memorable power brokers as Howard Dean, the billionaire George Soros, the union leader Andy Stern, the blogger Markos Moulitsas, and the leaders of moveon.org as they vie for control of the new Democratic landscape. In the pages of The Argument, we are introduced to these activists not just as political figures but as fascinating and flawed characters-ordinary people motivated by ideology or ambition or even personal tragedy.

At stake is the future of the Democratic Party and, quite possibly, of American politics itself. At a time when assorted pundits offer their own prescriptions for Democratic success in the 2008 presidential election, Bai uses rich narrative and vivid portraits to illuminate the party's challenges. In scene after scene from around the country-with Dean in Alaska, with movie stars in Hollywood and financiers in New York-Bai reveals a movement that is learning how to win again, even as it struggles to articulate a compelling argument for progressive government in a confusing new century.

Readers of The Argument will recognize the unsparing insight and gift for storytelling that have made Matt Bai one of the country's most widely read observers of the American political scene-and its most trusted authority on the Democratic Party.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Scandals, the immigration debate, questions of competency and an approval-deficient President all point to a Democratic sweep in the 2008 elections; despite that, New York Times Magazine writer Bai contends, the Dems' perennial stumbling blocks-a lack of strong leaders, fractured beliefs, general disorganization and inferior skills of mass communication-are only getting worse. In this look behind the scenes at Democratic decision makers, Bai points to a new generation of troubles: has Howard Dean squandered money, good will and opportunities as the head of the party? Have blogs such as DailyKos.com steered the debate away from unifying issues in favor of divisive strategies? Can lefty billionaires like George Soros, or his pet activist Rob Stein, spearhead an effective organization? And how many of these people even know what they're talking about? To analyze these questions, Bai enjoys generous access to many key figures-including Tom Matzzie of MoveOn and Hollywood stalwart Rob Reiner-but few come across as interesting characters. In addition, the focus on 2004 and 2006 races gives much of the book a been-there, done-that feel. It doesn't provide much hope for the Dems-sympathizers are sure to come away from this title depressed, even if the 2008 elections do go their way.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Fed up with the calcification of the Democratic Party, progressives have independently begun several efforts to take back the party of the New Deal and return it to its former glory. Bai, a reporter with New York Times Magazine, traveled among disaffected Democrats for this stunning, insightful, and often hilarious look at the struggle for the heart and soul of the party. He chronicles friction and culture clashes between the wealthy contributors on Wall Street and Hollywood and the Washington insiders who control the party. Bai highlights the raucous campaigns of the bloggers, including the creators of MyDD.com and DailyKos.com, to shift the agenda back toward the Left, beginning with their support of Howard Dean and continuing through their efforts to bring down Joe Lieberman. But even as the interlopers struggle to redirect the party, Bai details their agonizing attempt to define what it is they want the party to stand for, the compelling argument for progressive government after so many years of conservative dominance in American thought in the postindustrial, post–cold war era. Completely fascinating. Bush, Vanessa

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The; First Edition edition (August 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594201331
• ISBN-13: 978-1594201332
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,445,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Argument & Iraq - The "Gift" That Keeps on Bleeding August 21, 2007

By John Stauber

Format:Hardcover

Shortly after the November 2006 election the Democracy Alliance, an exclusive group of about 100 Democratic Party millionaire activists, met in Miami, Florida. Members and their guests heard their keynote speaker and liberal legend Mario Cuomo, former New York governor, analyze the Democratic Party in the wake of its stunning electoral victories that had given Democrats control of the US Congress. Cuomo criticized the Democratic Party for lacking vision, big ideas and a winning political argument. His recipe for future Democratic victories was simple: "You seize the biggest idea you can, the biggest idea you can understand. And this is what moves elections."

Cuomo then dared to voice an inconvenient truth: "Now it's 2006 and we're all rejoicing. Why? Because of Iraq. A GIFT. A gift to the Democrats. A lot of whom voted for the war anyway." The former New York governor challenged his partisan audience, "If Iraq is not an issue, then what issues do we have to talk about? ... Where does that leave you? It leaves you in the same position you were in in 2004 - without an issue. Because you have no big idea."

The story of Cuomo's speech is from the concluding pages of Matt Bai's new book The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics. Bai writes, "An uncomfortable silence hung over the ballroom. No one had yet expressed the situation quite that crassly, although everyone knew it was an accurate accounting."

The Argument is an important book but Bai muffed the title. He should have titled it "The Gift," because as Cuomo points out it was primarily the political gift of voter anger and revulsion over a horrific, continuing war that caused them to oust Republicans....

And how have the Democrats treated their gift now that they control Congress? The Democratic House and Senate have continued to fund the war while posturing against it. For example Hillary Clinton, who pollsters regard as the Democratic frontrunner for her party's presidential nomination, told the New York Times that when she is elected she would keep troops in Iraq but run a smarter operation. The public's opinion of Congress has plummeted with no end in sight to the bloody occupation.

Bai's book is the first since the 2006 election to examine the new power alliance within the Democratic Party composed of the organizations referenced in his long subtitle. They include the "billionaires" such as George Soros and other members of the Democracy Alliance; the major liberal "bloggers" such as "Netroots Nation" guru Markos Moulitsas Zúniga with his Daily Kos blog and the Yearly Kos conventions; and the related "battlers" re-making the Democratic Party such as party chair Howard Dean. Bai devotes an entire chapter to MoveOn, the Netroots money and messaging machine controlling an email list of 3.3 million Americans built in large part on their opposition to the Iraq war. Read more ›

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for any Democratic activist August 18, 2007

By R. Brooks

Format:Hardcover

This is one of those rare books that really causes you to stop and think, and helps you to formulate new ideas.

For the activist, blogger, or political junkie you should really consider this a textbook. It illustrates some of the battles over the future of the Democratic party that have raged over the past 5 years or so pitting party outsiders vs. party insiders. It also points out the mistakes that have been made and the opportunities that have been missed. But probably most importantly it sums up the critical task - define the argument for a Democratic governing majority.

For the casual observer this book holds many things too. It is one of the few non-fictional books that paints a tail of political intrigue, presents you with vividly developed characters (flaws and all), and really tells a story about the recent past of our political history. The casual observer might not be aware of these undercurrents in modern politics, but it is important to understand them because this is the direction things are heading.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Liberal Insurgency September 9, 2007

By Izaak VanGaalen

Format:Hardcover

The "argument" referred to in the title of this book is the search for an agenda among liberal activist groups that make up in Howard Dean's words "the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party." Matt Bai, a reporter for the New York Times Magazine, has been in close contact with these groups for many years and is sympathetic with them. However, he finds them lacking in two major respects. One, they do not have the "big ideas" based on principles that inspired, say, Roosevelt's New Deal or Johnson's Great Society program. Second, they spend too much time being negative and divisive. They're acting too much like Democratic Karl Roves, which incidentally works only in the limited way of winning elections. Bai laments the fact that they are more about partisanship than ideology.

Like the liberal activists, Bai does not care much for the Clintons and the Democratic Leadership Council. The Clinton's practice of triangulation - poaching moderate Republicans and swing voters - does not make for big ideas. Clinton politics are the "politics of the center" whereas liberal activists practice the "politics of the base." (For more on this distinction read The Way to Win: Clinton, Bush, Rove, and How to Take the White House in 2008 (Unabridged) by Mark Halperin and John F. Harris.)

For the past 30 years Republicans have been very successful on the big idea front due to their funding of such think tanks as the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. According to Bai, the Democratic effort to replicate that success was initiated by George Soros and other wealthy Democrats. Their foundation, the Democracy Alliance, attempts to transform what they see as the bankrupt Democratic establishment.... So far, they have not come up with the big ideas that Bai and others are looking for.

Another group Bai discusses is MoveOn. They are a netroots organization on the other end of the economic spectrum from Soros. It's a member-driven organization that is more about tactics than strategy. They are self-mobilizing and their goals of healthcare for all, renewable resources, and restored democracy are laudable but without a strategy they are merely feel-good.

The most strident activists and the ones most focused on getting elected are the bloggers such as Markos Zuniga of the DailyKos. They are unyielding in their negative assaults on the Bush administration - and given the administration's track record, not unjustified. However, being the Karl Roves of the Democrats may win them elections but it does not give them an agenda for governing the country - as I hope Karl Rove himself has found out.

Bai finds the bloggers deficient in their understanding of history - say anything that happened before 1998, the Clinton impeachment. He goes on to argue that bloggers view politics as an online wargame. They assault anyone who disagrees with them, even moderate Democrats who have compromised their views with Republicans. The bloggers do not seek to persuade any Republicans, they are after the 50 percent of the populace that does not vote. Why that non-voting electorate would sign up with uncompromising liberal bloggers is still unclear.

What Bai and the liberal activist insurgency seem to forget is that politics is the art of the possible. Piecemeal ideas and baby steps are the stuff of legislation. These activists could never achieve power and impose their agenda if they can't even find common cause with the centrist branch of their own party. They are not only disconnected from history, they are disconnected from reality.

At the end of the book, Bai touches on a big idea - if there is one - that could transform the Democratic Party. Andy Stern, a union leader, has formed a partnership with Walmart to move the country toward universal healthcare. This is an issue were large corporations and unions can find agreement, and both need to support it to make it a reality. Although denounced by the left for working with Walmart, Stern is on the right path. Liberal activists should learn that they will get nowhere if they can't work with big business. Read more ›

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and Discussion Worthy August 22, 2007

By TJR

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Lush. Bai has a way of setting a scene, from a smoke filled dive bar in Connecticut, to the swanky pads of the country's billionaires. What's more, he seems to never take himself too seriously as he tells this tale. The first chapter is worth the price of admission alone.

Bai's personal bias is clear, and at some points, perhaps unfair, but for the most part he paints a compelling picture of a burgeoning movement and the people who are helping to shape it. On the blogger side, he leaves out a lot - but a book could be, and has been, written on just that alone. He could have written much, much more, certainly if he had a different guide to the upstart side of things, but where he draws the line will satisfy most, with only the most knowledgeable beltway insider saying things like, "but he should have added...could have said..."...

Overall, some people will hate the book, but most will appreciate it. Even if it isn't a perfect assessment, even if Matt doesn't have the whole story here, he spent years trying to find out how the new progressive movement wanted to work and puts up a mirror to show us all how it actually is working. What is clear is that we have work yet to do. And that is ok.