Politics Lost, Joe Klein
Politics Lost, Joe Klein
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Politics Lost
How American Democracy Was Trivialized By People Who Think You're Stupid

Author: Joe Klein

Narrator: Joe Klein

Abridged: 5 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/18/2006


Synopsis

People on the right are furious. People on the left are livid. And the center isn’t holding. There is only one thing on which almost everyone agrees: there is something very wrong in Washington. The country is being run by pollsters. Few politicians are able to win the voters’ trust. Blame abounds and personal responsibility is nowhere to be found. There is a cynicism in Washington that appalls those in every state, red or blue. The question is: Why? The more urgent question is: What can be done about it?
Few people are more qualified to deal with both questions than Joe Klein.
There are many loud and opinionated voices on the political scene, but no one sees or writes with the clarity that this respected observer brings to the table. He has spent a lifetime enmeshed in politics, studying its nuances, its quirks, and its decline. He is as angry and fed up as the rest of us, so he has decided to do something about it—in these pages, he vents, reconstructs, deconstructs, and reveals how and why our leaders are less interested in leading than they are in the “permanent campaign” that political life has become.
The book opens with a stirring anecdote from the night of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Klein re-creates the scene of Robert Kennedy’s appearance in a black neighborhood in Indianapolis, where he gave a gut-wrenching, poetic speech that showed respect for the audience, imparted dignity to all who listened, and quelled a potential riot. Appearing against the wishes of his security team, it was one of the last truly courageous and spontaneous acts by an American politician—and it is no accident that Klein connects courage to spontaneity. From there, Klein begins his analysis—campaign by campaign—of how things went wrong. From the McGovern campaign polling techniques to Roger Ailes’s combative strategy for Nixon; from Reagan’s reinvention of the Republican Party to Lee Atwater’s equally brilliant reinvention of behind-the-scenes strategizing; from Jimmy Carter to George H. W. Bush to Bill Clinton to George W.—as well as inside looks at the losing sides—we see how the Democrats become diffuse and frightened, how the system becomes unbalanced, and how politics becomes less and less about ideology and more and more about how to gain and keep power. By the end of one of the most dismal political runs in history—Kerry’s 2004 campaign for president—we understand how such traits as courage, spontaneity, and leadership have disappeared from our political landscape.
In a fascinating final chapter, the author refuses to give easy answers since the push for easy answers has long been part of the problem. But he does give thoughtful solutions that just may get us out of this mess—especially if any of the 2008 candidates happen to be paying attention.

About The Author

Joe Klein is a political columnist for Time magazine. He is the author of five previous books, including Primary Colors and The Natural.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kuszma on November 18, 2020

"A választók voltaképpen lusták, nem akarnak erőfeszítést tenni annak érdekében, hogy megértsék, miről beszélünk. Az érvelés nagy fokú fegyelmet, összpontosítás igényel; a benyomáskeltés ennél sokkal egyszerűbb. Az érvelés eltaszítja, sérti, döntéshelyzet elé állítja a közönséget; a benyomás ezzel s......more

Goodreads review by J.D. on April 13, 2019

The author provides a candid account of the U.S. political system and its personalities (1976 – 2004). Generally, he’s not impressed. Boiled down, I think his message is that national politics has become all about winning, and less about governing, leadership and integrity. Political consultants and......more

Goodreads review by Claire on October 15, 2020

I didn't think that this particular 411 on American Democracy held muster to some of the classics in the field such as The Federalist Papers or Democracy in America or even America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction but it was an okay read. It used genuine names to talk about histori......more

Goodreads review by Zoha on February 08, 2020

This was a very interesting read about how political consulting and the rise of television/mass media changed how presidential elections work. Klein gave examples of campaigns from Nixon to Kerry to show what worked and what didn’t. And even though this was written 15 years ago (right before the 200......more

Goodreads review by Krishna on May 04, 2015

Joe Klein takes a shot at the lack of spontaneity in today's political leaders, comparing it to the moral leadership of past heroes like Robert Kennedy. The book covers several of the elections in the last few decades and bemoans how the spotlight of the media (especially television) has ended strai......more


Quotes

PRAISE FOR THE NATURAL

“No other book published on [Clinton] offers such smart analysis, judicious reporting, or accomplished prose. Klein’s account of the presidency is remarkably balanced and intelligent.” —Los Angeles Times


“[The Natural] is a book with insight, balance, and bright writing . . . A century from now, some serious historian will be glad that Klein wrote this slender book . . . A mother lode of contemporary observations.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch


“Funny, adroitly written, and, in sum, the first savvy synthesis of the Clinton Age.”
—William Kennedy, front page, New York Times Book Review


PRAISE FOR PRIMARY COLORS

“An absolutely dazzling book, the best political novel in many years, one that manages to be simultaneously cynical and redemptive, funny and profound, reportorial, satirical, and thrilling.” —Christopher Buckley, The New Yorker


“Breaks all the rules and lives to tell about it . . . There is a wonderful honesty about [Primary Colors], a refusal to give in to the conventional interpretation of people and events that cripples so much that is written about politics.” —Michael Lewis, New York Times Book Review


“A delight to read. The author knows politics . . . and writes like a dream.” —Alex Beam, Boston Globe