Hope He's Right

I just finished reading James Carville's 40 More Years. While not my favorite of his books, Carville makes some good arguments as to why he believes people are fed up with Republicans. Mostly, he says, the problem is that Republicans wanted to win the election in 2000 so badly that they decided to play to the small, right wing constituency, get them to the polls in droves, and then cater to their wishes. Problem is, when you cater to such a small (and quickly shrinking) constituency of older white Christians you're leaving so many people not only pissed off but worse off.

As you can see, a lot of the books I read are neither long or intellectual. I like books that are direct, thought provoking, and relevant but not dry. I tried to read a really interesting book about American history that reflected on how looking at our past should've led the Bushies to better decisions about our future, but it was just too, well, history-ish. I have the attention span of a child at church.

I want to leave you with these thoughts from page 173 of Mr. Carville's book:

That's the classic difference between a Republican and a Democrat. Republicans exist to protect what people have, and Democrats exist to help people have the opportunity to acquire the things that they need. Civil rights, education, woman's rights, opportunity, health care, you name it. The Republicans are a party that is designed to protect wealth. We should always strive to be a party that is designed to help people attain riches, of which money is only one part. We move for financial security but, more than that, family security, and security from fear and threat.