The Red and the Blue, Steve Kornacki
The Red and the Blue, Steve Kornacki
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The Red and the Blue
The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism

Author: Steve Kornacki

Narrator: Steve Kornacki, Ron Butler

Unabridged: 17 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 10/02/2018


Synopsis

From MSNBC correspondent Steve Kornacki, a lively and sweeping history of the 1990s—one that brings critical new understanding to our current political landscape.In The Red and the Blue, cable news star and acclaimed journalist Steve Kornacki follows the twin paths of Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, two larger-than-life politicians who exploited the weakened structure of their respective parties to attain the highest offices. For Clinton, that meant contorting himself around the various factions of the Democratic party to win the presidency. Gingrich employed a scorched-earth strategy to upend the permanent Republican minority in the House, making him Speaker.  The Clinton/Gingrich battles were bare-knuckled brawls that brought about massive policy shifts and high-stakes showdowns—their collisions had far-reaching political consequences. But the ’90s were not just about them.  Kornacki writes about Mario Cuomo’s stubborn presence around Clinton’s 1992 campaign; Hillary Clinton’s star turn during the 1998 midterms, seeding the idea for her own candidacy; Ross Perot’s wild run in 1992 that inspired him to launch the Reform Party, giving Donald Trump his first taste of electoral politics in 1999; and many others. With novelistic prose and a clear sense of history, Steve Kornacki masterfully weaves together the various elements of this rambunctious and hugely impactful era in American history, whose effects set the stage for our current political landscape.

About Steve Kornacki

Steve Kornacki is a national political correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC.  His work has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Roll Call, and the New York Times, among others.  The Red and the Blue is his first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill on March 04, 2020

When it became clear that the special election in my congressional district (OH-12) merited national attention, I said to my wife: “I’m excited! You know why? Because soon we’re going to see our very own district all by itself up on the MSNBC Big Board, and Steve Kornacki will be explaining what it......more

Goodreads review by Bren fall in love with the sea. on May 22, 2020

I love Steve Kornacki. There is nothing better than sitting back and watching him at the board on MSNBC. He is so smart! And his analysis is amazing. So this book was written by Kornacki and I do agree with most of it. He traces the roots of Political Bias, Tribalism and he does a really good job of......more

Goodreads review by Nev on November 22, 2020

MSNBC’s election chartthrob Steve Kornacki wrote a really interesting book about how US politics evolved to become so incredibly polarized. While the book is mostly just laying out the facts of what happened between different politicians and their political parties I wouldn’t say that it’s all that......more