Had Enough?: A Handbook for Fighting Back (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Jeff Nussbaum (Contributor) "Every time someone asks me, "What's wrong with the Democratic Party today?..." (more)
Key Phrases: transgender amendment, malpractice insurance rates, trillion tax cut, George Bush, Social Security, President Bush (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Veteran political strategist James Carville has always had a knack for being concise. He is, after all, credited with coining "It's the economy, stupid" while directing the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. And as host of CNN's Crossfire, he favored a combative in-your-face approach that stood in stark contrast to the stereotype of the mushy liberal. In Had Enough, Carville, along with co-author Jeff Nussbaum, takes that economic phrasing and aggressive style to offer a handbook for lefties tired of losing arguments and elections. To point out how fundamentally misguided he believes the GOP to be, Carville goes straight to the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. While Republicans can be credited with providing for the common defense, Carville says, they have failed miserably on all other directives issued by the founding fathers on what government is supposed to do, including promoting the general welfare, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, and securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and posterity. Although the arguments are not remarkably different from those made in a slew of other lefty books (Bush's tax cuts favor the rich, Republicans seek to curtail civil liberties), the book also offers "Had Enough" solutions to pressing issues of public policy that will come in handy for liberals looking to defeat a conservative brother-in-law in a political argument or even hold their own on Crossfire. These solutions always sound eminently reasonable, although that's due in large part to their being contrasted to Carville's interpretation of Bush and company's approach ("Use everything as an excuse to dig, drill, and burn.") Still, Carville and Nussbaum make a cogent, impassioned, and highly entertaining indictment of the Bush administration, which, combined with a smattering of incongruously placed but nonetheless tempting Cajun recipes, makes Had Enough a worthwhile read. --John Moe

From Publishers Weekly

For liberals who think Al Franken and Michael Moore show too much restraint, the Ragin' Cajun launches another no-holds-barred assault on the conservative powers-that-be. Carville's shtick remains intact, so the political commentary is saturated with jokes about being married to a Republican, stories about his family down in Louisiana and recipes for barbecue shrimp and bread pudding. But if you thought he was mad before, wait until Carville tears into George W. Bush and his administration. Not content with merely attacking Bush's Iraqi war strategy, Carville denigrates the entire war on terrorism, reminding readers that Senate Democrats proposed tougher homeland security proposals that the president consistently rejected. He also suggests that not only could Gore have handled 9/11 better, it probably wouldn't even have happened. And he's just getting started at that point, gearing up for tough criticism of tax cuts, school vouchers, tort reform and other GOP policies. But finger-pointing isn't enough; Carville provides a "nice little progressive playbook" of counterstrategies to rebuild economically and socially the way he says only Democrats can. It's hard to tell sometimes whether he's putting on his pitbull act: the "fuel or freedom" tax on SUV owners is probably satirical, but a full ban on contributions to incumbent congresspeople is so radical it's got to be serious. As Howard Dean recently proved, Democratic candidates still turn to Carville for talking points, so don't be surprised to see some of these proposals raised on the campaign trail next year.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st THUS edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743255755
• ISBN-13: 978-0743255752
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #616,495 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent how-to guide, November 22, 2003

By A Customer

While recent months have brought a number of excellent books expressing liberal political views and correcting the dishonesty of those on the right, Carville adds practical advice and guidance to help people make a difference.

This belongs on your shelf along with the recent titles from Al Franken, Joe Conason, Molly Ivins, David Corn and Alan Colmes. They all show you where the Bush neoconservative agenda is misguided and destructive, but only Carville offers solutions. The others tell us why, Carville shows us how.

72 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Stop apologizing for everything", January 18, 2004

By	C. Haaker "cherylfromalbuquerque" (albuquerque, nm United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is James Carville's first rule for Democrats. His excellent book details what the Democratic Party has to feel proud about, which includes Social Security, Medicare, public schools, regulation of the financial markets, food safety, etc ... basically, examples of the government performing actions that benefit its people. He contrasts this with the current neo-conman government of Mr Bush and his father's staff, which has been a "pay to play" operation restricted to participation by the wealthy. Then Carville proposes progressive (aka "liberal") solutions.

This is a great book to get Democrats, maybe even Greens, fired up and ready to engage in the Political Process. To provide that additional kick in the a$$ (the book uses a lot of foul language*), Carville leaves the reader with a list of things they can do, concluding with "Be Positive" (and a recipe for bread pudding with hard sauce.)

If you're angry or depressed with the current state of the nation, read this book! Then resolve to take at least one "action" per week.

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footnote: * Mr Carville is inclined to use salty language, as does Al ("Lies and the Lying Liars") Franken. For this reason, conservatives will probably want to avoid this book, so as not to get their delicate sensibilities offended. But genuine conservatives might learn something about how "their" government has been acting since Mr Bush began squatting in the White House, so I recommend they give "Had Enough" a try, too.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smear this!, February 7, 2004

By	Ben Mack (Nacirema) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dear reader and potential reviewer:

If you are going to smear this book, please give some substantiated specifics why it is bad or evil or wrong. Stating that this book "smears" Republicans occurs to me as the type of vacuous tactic that has been working for a long time. Non-republicans: Stop letting these sophmoric tactics work. Buy this book and learn how to defend factual observations of world events and our economy.

I have a partisan perspective. I feel that a strategy is only as sound as the facts on which they are based. When there are intentional lies, then what is called strategy is actually propaganda. Often, propaganda calls its opposition propaganda.

You must discern for yourself what is real. The facts presented in this book, facts that are substantiated by more than quoting one's own side, demand a reinterpretation of "news" on mainstream media.

If you don't like the way things are working, read this book, join an effective conversation.