A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

With the growl of the Marine sergeant he was, Senator Zell Miller leaves no doubt that he believes his own Democratic Party is badly out of step with most of the country and needs to shape up or ship out.

As part of a stinging critique of the Democratic Party, Miller outlines key positions on important issues that can again make the party relevant for the entire nation. From tax cuts to welfare, gun control to the environment, the arts to education, immigration to terrorism, Miller identifies values that make sense to a growing majority of Americans.

Miller’s candid analysis of the campaigns of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton further underscores his conclusion that the Democratic Party can no longer field a serious presidential challenge.

Many party loyalists will not like what Senator Miller writes; yet his credentials are beyond question, for few Democrats have worked longer or stronger for the party and its candidates. Zell Miller has served in an elective office in each of the last six decades. When he left office as governor after two terms, he had an 85 percent approval rating, prompting the Washington Post to call him the most popular governor in the country. After getting to Washington, he became President Bush’s biggest Democratic supporter, but steadfastly refused to switch parties.

A National Party No More is a firsthand account from the enigmatic senator who has confounded his Democratic colleagues. Driven by conscience and common sense, Senator Miller names the self-destructive direction of his party and stubbornly pulls the Democratic family toward reform.

About the Author

Zell Miller began his career in public service in 1959 with a term as mayor of Young Harris, Georgia. In 1960, he was elected to the Georgia Senate at the age of 28. In 1974, he won the first of four consecutive terms as GeorgiaÂ’s lieutenant governor. Then in 1990, Miller ran for governor and won the first of two terms he would serve as the stateÂ’s top leader.

MillerÂ’s HOPE Scholarship program was dubbed by the Los Angeles Times as "the most far-reaching scholarship program in the nation.Â’Â’ His pre-kindergarten program won an award for innovation from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

After leaving the governorÂ’s office in 1999, Miller taught at Emory University and at his alma maters, the University of Georgia and Young Harris College. Five books have been written by Miller, including "Corps Values: Everything You Need To Know I Learned in the Marines." He also served on several corporate boards before joining the Senate, where he now serves.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Stroud & Hall Publishers (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974537616
• ISBN-13: 978-0974537610
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (229 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #439,515 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

124 of 150 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He's always been honest, November 5, 2003

By	Damon "t00l" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

I'm not sure why others are trying to paint Zell as "a wolf in sheeps clothing." Miller has been extremely consistent in his viewpoint for over 40 years. Attacks on his character based on the concept of him "changing his stripes" are baseless and are a sign of a person who has no clue about Miller's history.

I suggest anyone who thinks Miller has changed his values read "Crops Values" and Listen to His Words (a collection of Miller's speeches). It is not Miller who has changed, it is the Democratic party that has changed, and probably for the worse.

Apparently, disagreeing with the Democratic Party makes you into a "liar" by default. This makes perfect sense since the Democrats -never- lie.

This is a fabulous book for anyone who's been a Democrat but has felt that there is something wrong with the party. Miller is one of the last real Democrats left. He believes in a core set of principles and doesn't change them based on what is expedient for his party. This is a real American folks, someone we can all be proud of, full of integrity even if you disagree with his views. And this book is a fabulous testament to his clarity of thought and strength of character.

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book for Democrats, NOT Republicans, April 4, 2005

By	David K. Goldstein (NY, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This past election had two great candidates for Most Hated by the Left: Dick Cheney and Democratic turncoat, Zell Miller. It is easy to see why. Miller's speech at the Republican National Convention was not only viciously vitriolic, it was a naïve, poorly informed diatribe loosely disguised as a keynote address. The next day, people on the left were excoriating Miller and the national media replayed his challenging Chris Matthews to a duel over and over again. However, something about this whole situation bothered me greatly. After all, how does someone go from being the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention one year, tearing into a president named Bush, to twelve years later speaking at the RNC on behalf of another president named Bush? I decided to find out so I went out and bought his book.

The truly fascinating thing about Miller, after all, is that he has remained a Democrat. Although, yes, he backed Bush in '04 at no point does he extol the Republican Party itself--ever. We need to remember that it's been decades since Strom Thurmond led the Southern mass exodus from the Democrats to the Republican Party over the issue of integration. Obviously, Miller's remaining a Democrat was not a simple matter of heritage, a yolk that many Southern politicians before Miller have thrown off without a second thought. Reading Miller's book you come to understand something pretty quickly: Miller is a Democrat through and through. He speaks extraordinarily admiringly of the New Deal and FDR (can you find a Republican who would?). He proudly talks about his various education initiatives, his excellent environmental record, his efforts to get the Confederate emblem off Georgia's state flag, his disgust over his race baiting as a young man and his later championing of minority rights, etc. Obviously, he holds some conservative positions, but overall, it's clear he truly believes in the Democratic ideal of government as a force for good in the lives of its citizens, especially those in need of help. He governed Georgia as a Democrat and we must ask ourselves what in God's name happened to drive this man to so ferociously lash out against his own party.

The answer is simple: regional pride and a desperate desire to save his party from itself. The regional pride stems from the fact that any Southerner is damn proud to be a Southerner. They are deeply proud of their heritage and have an almost tribal-like view of their shared history. You attack one, you attack them all. Miller knew before going to Washington that the pundits on the right claimed the Democratic Party was not only out of touch but openly disdainful of the South. He didn't believe it; but that soon changed upon his arrival in D.C. He was shocked to find out that many in the national party really did think of the South as a poor, backwater area and thought that white Southerners voted Republican because of religious zealotry, integration (read racism) and/or they were ignorant of what Republicans were doing to them economically. What Miller quickly realized was that all that was absolute nonsense; Democrats were really just prejudiced and horribly ignorant of the true state of the South.

In order to back up his claim he cites some statistics. First off, Miller points out that in 1990 (actually, 1970 according to the May 4, 2003 Atlanta Journal Constitution) African Americans held 565 elected offices in the old Confederacy. By 2000, that number had increased ten fold. Which is not to say that there is no racism in the South; Miller readily acknowledges this and argues passionately for its complete eradication. However, it has subsided somewhat as seen by the seven African Americans who have been elected to statewide office in Georgia which is 70 percent white. As Miller points out, while two white Democrats, Roy Barnes and Max Cleland were losing re-election in 2002 with about 46 to 47 percent of the vote, two black Democrats, Attorney General Thurbert Baker and Commissioner of Labor Michael Thurmond, were winning re-election with about 56 to 57 percent. The Atlanta Journal Constitution also points out that the removal of the Confederate emblem from the flag was passed by a popular referendum.

Why does Miller cite all this? He is absolutely incensed over the fact that many in the Democratic party think Southerners still vote Republican for the same reasons that Strom Thurmond switched parties in the sixties (even though Thurmond himself came to strongly regret his anti-segregation policies). Moreover, he contends that the reason Democrats are losing so badly in the South has nothing to do with ignorance of the voter, is has to do with ignorance on the part of the national party. He contends that as long as the Democrat idea of reaching out to the Southern voter involves nothing more than slapping a Southern face on the national ticket, we will always lose. What he advocates is a return by the Democratic Party to the ideals of FDR, to the days when Democrats cherished American's heartland instead of deriding it. As he points out, it would not be all that difficult. Miller knows that the more we ignore the heartland of this country, the more we will continue to condemn ourselves to the permanent prison of a minority party. His book is a desperate attempt to help us avoid that fate. However, as his speech to the RNC shows, he has concluded that, basically, we're doomed. I, on the other hand, honestly believe that the day will come when we Democrats return to our New Deal FDR roots and once again formulate a powerful and compelling vision of a society based upon the values of compassion for the weak, help for the poor, and a society in which everyone gets a fair shot. Until, that day, however. . .well, let's just say that any liberal who said after this past election, "Things couldn't get any worse," is going to be in for a very, very rude awakening.

43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spoken like a true Marine, November 29, 2003

By	Jonathan Abbott "marine0311" (St Louis, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a former Marine and life long Republican I have often sworn never to vote for a Democrat. If Zell were to run I would eat those words. He is a Marine, he is an American Patriot, and he has a deep conviction of right and wrong. These Fine Qualities are looked upon with distain by today's Democrat Party and therefore alienate me as a voter. He addresses the dislike of anything not "pure to the Democrat way of "thinking" and of the Democrat party of tolerance for only that which they find tolerable. Zell Miller expresses the true meaning of "Semper Fidelis" Always Faithful. Faithful to his Convictions, Faithful to his Constituents, And Faithful to His Country. God, Country, Corps-Simple philosophies often Result in great men.