Realistic yet Hopeful

Like most progressives in the world today, the last three years have been an utter nightmare for me. This book gives hope that maybe things can be changed and that maybe the country I loved isn’t gone for good. While Pfeiffer doesn’t say that any of this will be easy (quite the contrary) he at least makes defeating a Trump and exorcising his influence from Washington seem possible. Very good book. ( )

I could say this is another trump book, but it really isn't, in that it doesn't catalogue trump's crimes/history etc. Rather it views trump as the logical outcome of what the republican party has evolved into over the years, and provides a blueprint of some actions, each more or less feasible, that can be taken to make the country "democratic" again.

"Play the game against people who will do anything to win while you adhere to the rules is a losing proposition,"

I nearly abandoned this book, as I found the beginning of the book to be more geared toward a professional political operative than I am or want to be. But I'm glad I persevered, as I found some reasons for hope in the book. The thesis of the book is that the biggest divide in the Democratic Party is not between the center (moderate) and left (progressive), but between those who believe that trump is an accident or aberration and that when he is gone we will return to normal, and those who have come to terms with what the Republican Party actually is.

Very briefly, here are a few of the suggestions for actions the country can take so that a "trump" doesn't happen again. As noted, some are more feasible than others, and the author does make the point that though democrats need to play "tougher" they cannot become as "bad" as some of the republican tactics are.

1. Expand the vote: automatic voter registration; same day registration; vote by mail; expand early voting; consider making voting mandatory, as in Australia; consider allowing 16 year olds to vote; hammer the message to people that "the republican party is trying to stop you from voting!"

2. Fix the Senate-by 2040, 70% of the population will reside in just 16 states, but the remaining 30% of the population will control 68% of the Senate seats. Ways to remedy this lopsided control include: eliminate the filibuster; create more states--make D.C. a state; make Puerto Rico a state; divide California into 2 or more states (why do we need 2 Dakotas?)

3. Eliminate the Electoral College, so that the person who wins the majority popular vote wins. Since this would require a constitutional amendment (very difficult) work for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which so far 15 states and D.C. have joined--requires the state to give its electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.

4. Build a nationwide liberal infrastructure similar to that developed by the Koch Brothers et. al. over the years.

5. Get rid of Citizens United--difficult because it will require either the Supreme Court to overturn the case or a constitutional amendment.

6. Strengthen the FEC to give teeth to penalties for election law violations.

7. Require nonprofits to disclose their political fundraising and spending (no more dark money). Possibly go to public financing for all campaigns.

8. Judicial Reform--Add Justices to the Supreme Court. Nine Justices is not required by the Constitution, and changing the number of justices is not unprecedented. It only got a bad reputation (as court packing) when FDR floated the idea. After Bush v. Gore, and the Merrick Garland fiasco, it can no longer be said that the Supreme Court is not a political entity. Another possibility might be to place term limits on the Justices--the Constitution doesn't specifically require that the appointments be for life, only that they can only be removed for cause.

8. Strengthen unions. Also if corporations are "people," make them act decently.

9. Put some restrictions on presidential power--Repeal the authorization for use of military force and allow no more wars without congressional authorization; repeal National Emergencies Act, which allowed trump to divert funds to his wall, for example

10. Since trump has shown us we cannot depend on an intrinsic morality or sense of shame in our presidents, we must turn some of our prior norms into law. For example, require presidential candidates to release tax returns; require a president to divest himself of his private businesses; strengthen the Hatch Act; no more get out of jail for free card, since the only basis for the rule that a president can't be prosecuted is a DOJ opinion from the Watergate era, and as we have seen impeachment as a remedy for a rogue president is not viable when one party has lost its mind.

Overall, I found a lot of interesting ideas in this book.

3 stars ( )

As a Republican who read this author's previous book "Yes We (Still) Can" and enjoyed it immensely, I was looking forward to his new work. I was not disappointed. It is an incredibly insightful look at how we ended up with Trump as our president, how we can change this and even more important, how we can prevent having another Trump again. Please Democrats - read this book! I will do whatever I can to support your efforts! It is so important, especially watching how horrific Trump's responses have been to the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd by cops. Great advice, great use of humor and real reasons to panic - all in one book! Loved it!!! ( )

This is a political book that is both hopeful and inspiring for people living through the age of Trump. Dan Pfeiffer uses his experience of working with Barack Obama to propose a compelling way forward for the Democratic Party. The book is also wonderfully entertaining with superb snarky footnotes. ( )