[AlexSchlotzer]

This is an exerpt from my review of Crashing the Gate:

The book is not exactly the book I was expecting; particularly given the hype around it.

It’s an easy book to read and I enjoyed reading it. There was some great some great discussion about the general state of progressive, liberal politics in the United States of America. It critiques quite well the rise of the radical right and how the Republicans have built a range of think tanks, media, academic and corporate institutions that support rising stars in the GOP.

There are some parallels with the situation in Australia and one could see how the same issues that plague the Democrats also plague the Labor Party. It speaks to how disjointed the progressive liberal efforts have been; especially in coordinating a response to the growing strength of the GOP. There are also vital lessons to learn about being reliant on focus groups and the consultants.

Reading the book about the state of national politics in the US had remarkable similarities to what I see as some of the issues plaguing the left in Australia. There are some very good lessons to learn for the Australian Greens in how to avoid being split by different issue-based groups and factionalism.

However the book spends much more time critiquing the political and electoral success (or lack thereof) of the Democrats since the 70s. While that in itself is quite interesting there is very little on the netroots.

Register so you can post replies with ease and remove this message.
Already registered? Please login now to make this message go away.

[scotto]

I read a review or two of this and is sounded kind of okay but I wasn't interested enough to search out a copy. I'm more of a Great Shark Hunt kind of political reader.

Register so you can post replies with ease and remove this message.
Already registered? Please login now to make this message go away.