Review: It's My Party Too by Christine Todd Whitman | by GlennM
After getting a pile of political books, I started with Christine Todd Whitman's "It's My Party Too". If we're going to reach out to Republicans, it couldn't hurt to start with the middle.
It was eye-opening for me to be reading a book by a proud Republican, who had some good accomplishments to be proud of during her tenure as Governor of New Jersey. Overall, it was a quick read. You can get her main points in the introductory chapter. The other chapters then follow quickly with some interesting tidbits but not a lot of meat.
To Gov. Whitman, the Republican's core values should be:
- Small Government
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Strong Security
She talks longingly for the time when the party was a "Great Umbrella" which encompased many different points of view while still revolving around these three main points.
It was interesting to hear about the Democratic party swinging to the far left at the end of the 60's (at least from the point of view of a Republican), and about the Democrats abandoning the center.
While she complains about the "social fundamentalists" splintering the Republican party, she calls out that the unions and trial lawyers are far from the center of the current Democratic party.
The Republicans are too far to the right on:
- Social issues
- Race
- Environment
The Democrats are too far to the left on:
- Defence
- Tax policy
- Welfare reform
- Gun control
- Abortion
[So, do you try to find middle ground? Or do you bait the social fundamentalists to the point where they implode?]
Groups she mentions as trying to restore the moderate base to the Republican party are (p.230):
- Republican Majority for Choice
- Main Street Coalition
- Republican Leadership Council
I learned that many of the Environmental acts were originally started by Republicans. I learned that it was possible to align businesses with environmental causes (especially when being Green can save greenbucks). And that many of the current crop of fundamentalists have gone much farther than folks like Goldwater were ever prepared to go. And I learned some political history, like when black votes swung to the Democrats.
Gov Whitman certainly seems like she's pulling some punches. The main folks that she names by name are Bush, Cheney, and her old police commissioner. Sounds like she's leaving the rest up there to leave more options open for herself in the future.
It was also kind of sad to have a smart woman bemoan the fact that the Republicans aren't attracting more minority voting without figuring out "it's the economy ..."
One of the most interesting anecdotes was with her "Listening Project" for the Republican party when she just started out. Going around and listening to constituents seems like a good thing for the Dems to do.
It was also interesting to hear what things were like for a woman in politics.
In terms of shooting for better government (using the Democratic party as a vehicle), my main takeaways are:
- Search more for the center on issues where the Dems are too far to the left.
- Look for ways to bring businesses into the fold on issues (cleaning up the environment can save them $, not to mention health care, public transportation, etc.)
- Hammer back on the Rs for fiscal responsibility
- Spend more time listening to minorities, to keep them from feeling neglected.