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“Illuminating . . . A colorful topographical map of the Democratic landscape.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
“I had more fun reading The Argument than I’ve had reading any political book in ages. It was fun the way The Boys on the Bus was fun. The way Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72 was fun. . . . Or maybe even the way Primary Colors was fun.”—Kevin Drum, Washington Monthly
“Engaging and painstakingly reported.”—The Economist
“Sharply written, exhaustively reported.”—Nick Gillespie, The New York Times Book Review
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Bai's book traces the emergence of the "Netroots", the left/"Progressive" online movement kicked off by Howard Dean's abortive 2004 Presidential campaign, from its pre-Dean roots in MoveOn-dot-com through the late stages of the 2008 Democrat primary season.
If you can get past Bai's somewhat toadyish tone, the book is filled with great insights into how the left took away the internet from the right-leaning early adopters, who had owned online political commentary in much the way they still own political talk radio. While not a paint-by-numbers guide to how the left established itself online and used the newly-available social networking and messaging methods to trump the GOP in 2006 and 2008, it reveals much that is useful to the right in catching up. The right can learn from the left's mistakes and missteps, as recounted by Bai, as from their obvious successes. In this regard, the Democrats and Bai have done those of us on the right an enormous favor, showing us many of the pitfalls that await us in rebuilding the GOP for the internet age -- thanks!
Another revealing insight the book presents is just how fractured and petty the left really is. Competing factions struggled at first to marginalize the emerging "netroots", and later fought amongst each other to control the movement when its potential became clear. Plainly, it isn't only the GOP that has factional problems between its status-quo, position-protecting old guard and its tech-savvy, idea-oriented younger generation.
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Over the last five to eight years, a progressive left political movement has been growing in the U.S. These days you can feel it when you walk down the street and Obama '08 signs and buttons abound. One might think the country has simply had enough of the right-wing politics of the Bush/Cheney administration, but in The Argument, by Matt Bai, a political writer for the NY Times magazine, gives you a behind-the-scenes look at exactly how the left has re-claimed its share of the American political debate.
Bai travels across the country tracing the steps of Howard Dean with his 50-state approach, Moveon.org, and their house parties, and the liberal blogosphere that fostered an environment for progressives to flush out their grassroots movements. He provides insight into exactly how the left took back the fight, where it started, and exactly for what they're fighting for.
After reading this book, you'll know why Barack Obama disposed of Hillary Clinton and her out-dated centrism in the Democratic primary and is leading Jon McCain in the polls. It's not just a pendulum swinging back and forth from left to right that controls American politics, it's a concerted effort by interests on both sides to frame the debate and influence the outcome of elections.
--Marc Amigone
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Political books that describe the southern strategy; the culture wars; the mean Republicans seeking to turn back civil and women's rights; as the explanation for why the Democrats have failed are a a dime a dozen. Bai, on the other hand comes up with something new, the Democratic Party now isn't the party of forty years ago. This fact should be obvious, but a surprising amount of literature of late seems to still be based--intentionally or unintentionally--on the premise of the Democrats as the Democratic Party of the 1960's, not as the Democratic Party of modern day.
Donors according to Bai are focus on narrow sets of issues--the party can't ignore them because they provide the money. However, while the bloggers don't provide the money (at least not the bulk of it), the provide influence in activism, so the party can ignore them either.The bloggers are often concerned with a totally different set of issues, and hold views which may conflict with, or be more radical than, other members of the party. Bai describes the difficulty in getting the donors, and other supporters to all agree with something workable.
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I found the book to be light on ideas generated by whatever new mechanisms on the Left exist and to be more about how people who were labeled "activists," but were actually the Left's forebearers of the Right's "Tea Party" (that is, disaffected middle American voters) galvanized themselves against Republicans for big ticket races. The Democratic Party, that was (in the years directly prior to Obama's election) in search of the next "Thing", as represented by George Lakoff's basic idea of framing or summed up in Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter With Kansas" remains largely the same: still in search of the right idea with the right message at the right time. Whatever power and energy had shifted to Democratic grassroots or netroots described in the book have largely been sapped by (i) the Great Recession, (ii) instating the Affordable Care Act, and (iii) Obama's electoral victory, which in retrospect was largely felt to be an end in and of itself.
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This is the worst example of literature I have ever tried to read. It is purely literary waste. I expected more from this book, and the only reason it was listed as a notable on the NYTBS is cause of his Job at the time. ANY other book on the liberal politics would be better then this door stop.
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This item: The Argument: Inside the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics
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