James Moore (2) (1951–)

I first read this quite awhile ago. Being a political junkie, I en joy Political non fiction. This was a tough read yet I c an't say I didn't like it. It sure gives you a heck of alot of info about Karl Rove though.

I have never been A Rove Fan. I can clearly remember the Bush years and somehow whenever I saw Rove on the talk show circuit, I would think "sleezy". He made no secret that he'd do literally anything to get Bush into the White House and this book confirms it.

Still it is tough to read about someone you dislike so much. What really astounded me was the scorn he seemed to feel, not just for Democrats, but for some of the very people whose votes he needed t o secure. I did take to skimming after awhile because the whole book, well written as it was, was leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Kind of felt like I wanted to shower after reading this.

There are times I question why I read this stuff and why I'm a political junkie in the first place but if you are, you are. It's in you, in your blood. I have always held a rather obsessive interest in politics, more then the average person at any rate. This book shows the sleaze factor very well. I would recommend it to fellow Political junkies.… (mer)

From Publishers Weekly
This bold follow-up to journalists Moore and Slater's bestseller, Bush's Brain, takes a provocative look at how Karl Rove used George Bush's various campaigns and presidency to engineer nothing less than the assertion of a long-term Republican hegemony and the complete dismantling of the Democratic Party. To make their case, they draw on a wide range of materials, including interviews and reportage done by other journalists to demonstrate how Rove mobilized his party's base, forging an unlikely alliance between religious and economic conservatives, while mounting targeted assaults on gays and lesbians, trial lawyers and labor unions. Yet in this narrative, his bid for a complete realignment of American politics begins to derail with the failure of Bush's Social Security reform plan, the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, the failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and, most significantly, the implication of Rove in the leak of CIA employee Valerie Plame's identity. In this damning but scattered account, Rove remains an elusive, almost inhuman figure, despite short digressions about his relationship with his gay stepfather and his weekly brunches with members of the White House and RNC teams during the reelection campaign. The result is a compulsive page-turner that's bound to be divisive.… (mer)