Customer Reviews

You Have the Power: How to Take Back Our Country and Restore Democracy in America

5 star:		(8)
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3 star:		(6)
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Written by the Gov. Howard Dean, MD who surgically implanted a new spine into the Democratic Party this book lays out what has gone wrong with our party (and our country) and plots a course for the future. For those who didn't pay attention to the Democratic primary race - who may only know Howard Dean as that `scream guy' - read this book. There are at least 700,000 people out there who are better citizens, better Americans because of this man. All Democrats, Liberals, Progressives should read this book. Republicans who think all Democrats are wild-eyed America-hating socialists may learn a thing or to also. I purchased my signed copy at a Dean speech in Ohio.

Howard Dean really speaks his mind in this book. Despite the media's portrayal of him as a red-faced, raving, leftist fanatic, he is actually quite a moderate Democrat. This book is a how-to guide to succeed in the political world, and is a wake-up call for both sides on what they should be doing to bring our country back together again. Also, unlike Bill Clinton's My Life, the book is small enough that you can read it on a long airline flight. I urge everyone, Democrat or Republican, to at least give this book a try.

Inevitably a book like this has two interwoven parts - a memoir and a litany of "we musts and we needs." As is often the case, the memoir of this rather unfortunately named book (sounds like a self help manual) is the far more interesting part. Dean is at his most interesting when discussing his take on his own campaign and various political figures. The famous scream? Dean makes a compelling case that it never happened (really!) Bill Clinton? A uniquely skilled politician who tried to undermine Dean and left many would-be successors with the wrong impression that he won because he was centrist. George Bush? The worst president since Harding (and even more dangerous). In acknowledging that his operation was not prepared to win a front-runners campaign, Dean sort of explains why he, as one of the guys who lost, should be writing about what Democrats need to do to win. I would have liked more analysis of what went wrong, and what went right. On the whole, though this slim volume is worthwhile and engaging enough to read in one or two sittings.

Come on Dean! I ordered this book from amazon.com and when it came in the mail and I opened the box, my first thought was "where's the beef?" I was shocked by how small and thin this book is, considering the price. I'm not sure why it was published in hardback, since his previous one was paperback only. As much as I love Dean and wish that he was the Democratic nominee instead of Kerry, this book is still a widget that only hardcore Dean supporters like myself would buy. Its a breeze to read in a day or two, covering much of what I've heard in several speeches and read in his previous book. I agree with all points he makes (because I'm a Deanocrat), but I still don't understand why he bothered with this book. I was hoping for a narrative about his experiences on the campaign trail. I suspect he was in a rush to get this book out before the election in hopes of his supporters buying it, reading it, and holding their noses when they vote for Kerry in November. That's still no reason to con me out of $20 on a widget! I would have happily waited for a more in depth book, with more substance, and regular sized, if it took a year or two for him to write one worth reading. That's why I have to give him three stars. Its not as good as his first campaign literature ("Winning Back America"), and I eagerly bought it sight unseen (had I seen it in a bookstore, I probably would've passed on buying it until the paperback version) just because I'm such a loyal Deanocrat who's hoping that Dean will run again in 2008 or 2012. Because I still like Dean and believe in his message, I wouldn't ask for my money back...just a promise from him not to pass another widget on his supporters. Wait for substance before you write another book, and call me if you want help writing one. I'd love to help out on that project!

Howard Dean is proving himself to be one of the Democratic Party's more enduring leaders. Not yet 60, he has already served as Governor of Vermont, head of the Democratic Governors Association, a Democratic candidate for the party's 2004 presidential nomination, head of the political action committee Democracy for America, and since, February, 2005, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. With the Democrats poised to make big gains in 2006, Dean's future relevance is likely to continue for some time.

I am not a neutral observer. I was a Dean delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2004--his only delegate from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or the Mid-Atlantic states. And I have actively participated in Democracy for America and urged Pennsylvania's members of the Democratic National Committee to support his candidacy for this position.

Dean's ascension to the Chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee from the ranks of unsuccessful Presidential candidates is unprecedented. Most Democratic National Committee chairs have been fundraisers and/or political technicians. Dean is the rare Democratic National Committee with a visible policy platform and a coherent set of ideas.

This book is a summary and integration of Dean's views in a variety of areas: public policy platform; critiques of the Democratic Party (including Bill Clinton and the Democratic Leadership Council), the Republican Party (including George Bush, Newt Gingrich and the radical right), the media (including coverage of him and coverage of President Bush), a mix of moral exhortations to get actively involved in the political process, and pragmatic suggestions on how to strengthen the Democratic Party and why doing so is absolutely necessary.

This book is also an excellent summary of how his two decades in Vermont's state government have shaped his worldview; he is a strong patriot for Vermont as well as for America. "Ours is a very nurturing state with a sense of neighborly obligation. You typically see this in rural states, where communities had to band together because they were relatively isolated and self-supporting. There's a strong ethic that says we're all in it together; and it translates into an almost ingrained sense of collective responsibility and a deep commitment to public programs that tie people together...."

Dean's signature programs as Governor of Vermont were business tax cuts, an expansion of social welfare programs from the poor to the middle class by raising income eligibility requirments, parenting training programs for low-income families, offering home visits from social workers and nurses to mothers of newborns, annually balancing the budget, and saying no to undramatic traditional government spending in order to be able to finance some bold initiatives.

"All because Vermonters believed that our community of like-minded, stable, middle-class citizens could be expanded to draw in people at risk. In other words, we really tried to help everyone enjoy the kind of security and stability that in much of America is now reserved for the upper reaches of the middle class and the wealthy. We rejected social Darwinism....

"We did what Republicans and Democrats in Washington have never been able to do: bring health care and child care supports and good public schools and help with higher education to those outside the upper middle class--without breaking the bank.

"We made our ideals about community and social responsibility into reality without getting caught up in overspending or spiraling debt."

It is probably the best book ever written by a man on the cusp of becoming Democratic National Chairman. Written with the brevity, incisiveness and passion that has characterized Dean's public persona, it helps answer the questions of who Dean is, why he has a national constituency, what he stands for, and why both he and the Democratic Party are likely to have a long and successful future.

The last chapter provides a good summary of his public policy beliefs:

"We need to restore the balance between corporate power and the ballot box.

"We need to restore the balance between corporate rights and citizen's rights.

"We need to narrow the wealth gap to show people that capitalism works for them.

"We need to always stand up against the politics of division and fear, whether we are progressive or conservative or in the middle.

"We need political institutions that people can believe in.

"And we need a media willing to perform their watchdog role and hold politicians accountable for telling the truth....

"We need campaign finance reform....

"We need more corporate accountability....

"We have to reempower labor....

"We need to increase voter turnout....

"Voting is not enough....

"Politicians can't solve our problems for us...."

Dean makes clear that he is a genuine centrist who believes in balanced budgets and not a liberal in the 1960's free-spending sense of the word. He supported Jimmy Carter over Ted Kennedy for the 1980 Presidential nomination, and somewhat defines himself by that choice. In today's right-wing dominated climate, of course, the distinctions between Carter's centrism and Kennedy's liberalism have generally paled into insignificance.

This is a great book for those seeking an introduction to Dean's beliefs, the Democratic Party's beliefs, and the public policy differences within the Democratic Party and between the Democratic and Republican parties. It is also a good book for those deeply enmeshed in the political process who would benefit from a good summary volume. There are far more detailed books, however, on all these subjects, as well as on the 2004 Presidential campaign and Dean's role as a leading opponent of the war in Iraq.

A doctor and a politician in one, Howard Dean knows very well what's he's getting at. Look, you can be a centrist or a liberal and still end up in the same conservative trap. Think about the last two stolen presidential elections. Gore was a centrist all throughout his political career until Bush got his presidency through the supreme court in Dec 2000 and Kerry was a liberal who temporarily tried to be a centrist in 2004 but that of course prevented him from being himself. This book clearly proves that you should not be afraid to boldly turn the tables on rightwing puppets like Limbaugh and Foxnews to name a few or people will not trust you as their leader. I also recommend "Don't Think of an Elephant" by George Lakeoff.

P.S.: Some Democrats like the previous reviewer are running scared because they're in big trouble for kissing up to Bush, Delay, and GOP neocons in general. And there's no question that conservatives are actually scared of a tough as hell doctor like Howard Dean who knows their tricks inside out.

If you're fed up with the status quo, and want to join an intelligent refomer who uses scalpel to expose the rotten flesh of the existing system, this book will confirm your every worst fear about politics.

In 1968, I watched presidential candidates descend on our little community and was totally baffled at the insipid, trivial and biased coverage of the so-called national press. It's now much worse, and Dean has the guts to "expose the rotten flesh" of the media. His criticism of the Democrats pulls no punches, and is devastating on the Greedy Old Party.

Dean knows anout miracle cures, which is what voters expect every four years; BUT, like every good doctor, he knows it is far more important to change one's lifestyle than to pop yet another pill or spend another session under the scalpel. He doesn't do "feel good" politics, he prescribes changes in lifestyle.

Think of applying the doctor's motto to politics, "First, do no harm."

If you understand that, you'll understand his approach. If you go to a doctor to have your appendix removed, you'll end up with no appendix and a fading little scar on your tummy. Politicians, as anyone who watched the debates or saw any political ads knows, recommend a shotgun to remove your appendix -- and the entire substance of their debate centers on the use of a 410-gauge or a 12-gauge gun with SSGs or birdshot.

Most politicians want to go back to the past; Barry Goldwater liked 1910, George Wallace liked 1930, Richard Nixon liked 1950 and, both John Kerry and George Bush act as if they'd love to go back to the Clinton prosperity of 2000. Dean is one who realizes that all of us are going to live in the future, and it's up to each of us as to how we live.

Despite the nattering nabobs of negativism, to use the words of the man who helped invent much of today's negative politics, Dean has unbounded optimism in America. He's not here to pronounce a death sentence, which many politicians offer if they are not elected; he's here to show all Americans how to live a better life.

If you're tired of the way lawyers have run the country, there's a lot to be said for doctors. This doctor says a lot in a brief space. He knows, "Politicians can't solve our problems for us." Dean says America's faults are based on the attitude "we're always looking for someone to come along and save us."

The good doctor knows we have to save ourselves. This book is a prescription to get started. It's well worth reading. From there on, if you love this country, it's up to you and people like you. Dean is confident it can be done.

This is a must have for anyone who loves America and is doing their part to strengthen it. Howard Dean has had all the answers all along and even if you aren't a Dean fan, you will love his insight and point of view on the problems we face daily. Dean is hard on Dems as well as Rebublicans and wants us to know that power is ours, now we just have to use it. This book reads easily and is worth every penny. A must have.

Howard Dean minces no words in telling us that the Democrats need to learn to become Democrats once again. Part of that means that we all need to get involved in public policy, whether it is by running for public office or helping friends and neighbors run for public office or maybe just getting involved in the local political party you support. Corporations have a very strong grip on our country, and the only way we'll remove that grip is to elect more politicians who put the needs of the people he or she represents above their personal desires to be re-elected.

The inspiring words of the man who is now the Chairman of the entire Democratic Party. This book is a must read!

Dean wrote this book after John Kerry won the Presidential nomination, but before the 2004 elections. Dean show's real class by working to unite the Democratic Party, even after he was denied the chance to run for president.

His words make you believe that we can still bring an end to the corruption in American politics. And he gives clear and specific ideas about how we can do it as well. This book is part political strategy, part autobiography and part self-help. But all of it is an impressive work written by an impressive man.