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Books by and about 2020 presidential candidates |
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Crippled America,
by Donald J. Trump (2015) |
United,
by Cory Booker (2016) |
The Truths We Hold,
by Kamala Harris (2019) |
Smart on Crime,
by Kamala Harris (2010) |
Guide to Political Revolution,
by Bernie Sanders (2017) |
Where We Go From Here,
by Bernie Sanders (2018) |
Promise Me, Dad ,
by Joe Biden (2017) |
Conscience of a Conservative,
by Jeff Flake (2017) |
Two Paths,
by Gov. John Kasich (2017) |
Every Other Monday,
by Rep. John Kasich (2010) |
Courage is Contagious,
by John Kasich (1998) |
Shortest Way Home,
by Pete Buttigieg (2019) |
The Book of Joe ,
by Jeff Wilser (2019; biography of Joe Biden) |
Becoming,
by Michelle Obama (2018) |
Our Revolution,
by Bernie Sanders (2016) |
This Fight Is Our Fight,
by Elizabeth Warren (2017) |
Higher Loyalty,
by James Comey (2018) |
The Making of Donald Trump,
by David Cay Johnston (2017) |
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Books by and about the 2016 presidential election |
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What Happened ,
by Hillary Clinton (2017) |
Higher Loyalty ,
by James Comey (2018) |
Trump vs. Hillary On The Issues ,
by Jesse Gordon (2016) |
Hard Choices,
by Hillary Clinton (2014) |
Becoming ,
by Michelle Obama (2018) |
Outsider in the White House,
by Bernie Sanders (2015) |
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Book Reviews |
(from Amazon.com) |
(click a book cover for a review or other books by or about the presidency from Amazon.com)
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The Last Best Hope
Restoring Conservatism and America's Promise
by Joe Scarborough
(Click for Amazon book review)
BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:
Joe Scarborough is a former Congressman (serving 3 full terms and then resigning in the middle of his 4th term), who now hosts the political talk show MSNBC's "Morning Joe". Scarborough is the latest addition to the OnTheIssues series of political pundits:
- Saul Alinsky, populist-leaning liberal (coming soon).
- James Carville, populist-leaning liberal.
- Noam Chomsky, libertarian-leaning progressive.
- Milton Friedman, moderate libertarian conservative.
- Arianna Huffington, hard-core liberal.
- Rush Limbaugh, hard-core conservative.
- Ayn Rand, progressive libertarian.
- Robert Reich, progressive-leaning liberal.
- Joe Scarborough, libertarian-leaning conservative.
- Jesse Ventura, progressive libertarian.
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Scarborough's political views are moderately libertarian, and this book represents a move away from the more hard-core conservative voting record he accumulated in Congress. Specifically:
- Voted YES on banning gay adoption (1999) but now tolerates gay marriage (pp. 155-6)
- Voted YES on authorizing the Iraq War (2002) but now says Secretary Rumsfeld bullied Congress (p. 235)
- Voted NO on the Kyoto Protocol (2000) but now opposes drilling for more domestic oil (pp. 113-4)
- Voted NO on shortening gun waiting periods (1999) but now says he's 100% pro-Second Amendment (p. 189)
- Sponsored personal retirement accounts (2000) but now says Social Security privatization is unachievable (pp. 221-4)
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Perhaps that "evolution" is really just the opportunity to explain himself in more detail; or perhaps it'll be fodder for a future opponent accusing Scarborough of "flip-flopping". It is possible that Scarborough will run for office again: he was asked by the Florida GOP in both 2006 and 2009 to run for the U.S. Senate. But for now, Scarborough is an influential political pundit, and this book outlines his post-Congressional political views explicitly.
-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, Jan. 2015
| OnTheIssues.org excerpts: (click on issues for details)
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Budget & Economy
George W. Bush: 2008: These are not normal circumstances so intervention ok.
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Corporations
Joe Scarborough: TARP disallows continued arrogance of bailed out companies.
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Environment
Joe Scarborough: It's the job of conservatives to conserve.
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Foreign Policy
George Bush Sr.: OpEd: internationalist by instinct and upbringing.
Joe Scarborough: Don't allow military units to run humanitarian missions.
Joe Scarborough: Be wary of using US troops to promote social policy globally.
Joe Scarborough: Go to war as a last resort, and then come home.
Joe Scarborough: American exceptionalism yes; military over-stretch no.
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Government Reform
Milton Friedman: If government ruled the Sahara, there'd be a sand shortage.
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Homeland Security
Colin Powell: Military mantra: "We don't want a fair fight".
Dwight Eisenhower: Ended Korean War by practicing nuclear brinkmanship.
George W. Bush: OpEd: pre-emptive strikes replace multinational cooperation.
John F. Kennedy: Invented "pre-emption doctrine" in Cuban Missile Crisis.
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Principles & Values
Joe Scarborough: 1994 GOP revolution sought destruction of 1960s ethos.
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Social Security
George W. Bush: OpEd: burdened entitlement system with $7T in new debt.
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War & Peace
Bill Clinton: 1998: Seriously diminish threat posed by Iraqi WMDs.
Dick Cheney: 1992: stay out of Baghdad; 2002: invade Baghdad.
George W. Bush: Begin with Al Qaeda, then defeat every terrorist group.
Hillary Clinton: 2002: Saddam gave sanctuary to terrorists including Al Qaeda.
Joe Scarborough: 2002: Supported wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Joe Scarborough: Many mistakes in Iraq may end well because of the Surge.
Joe Scarborough: Iraq war's main rationale proved to be false.
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Welfare & Poverty
Barney Frank: 2002: "roll the dice" in favor of home ownership.
Ron Paul: 2002: Warned that housing market was broken.
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The above quotations are from The Last Best Hope
Restoring Conservatism and America's Promise
by Joe Scarborough.
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