I'm not a fence-sitter, so this book is both right up my alley and not exactly meant for me either. Hugh Hewitt, talk radio host and columnist for The Daily Standard and WorldNetDaily, wrote this book for exactly the reasons mentioned in the title: 1) He doesn't trust Democrats with national security issues, and 2) He wants to beat them by so much that they can't cheat themselves into office. (And yes, I'm aware that Gore supporters just did a spit-take on that last point, but read on to see why he wrote it that way.)
Right off the bat, Hewitt suggests that readers who aren't going to be receptive to the book put it down and move along:
If you don't really believe that the United states is in a war, then this book will make no sense to you, and you are well advised to put it down.
Reading through the Amazon reviews for this book, it's fairly obvious that some people didn't take that advice, or stopped there and wrote the review based on that knowledge (or just looked at the title and started tossing off platitudes). This book is meant for people who were already considering, at least in the back of their mind, voting Republican, as well as people who have--generally since 9/11--become disillusioned with the Democratic Party (often called "9/11 Democrats"). It is also somewhat for people like me, who are inclined in that direction already and who might need a little kick in the rear to get moving and help the cause.
He continues with brief descriptions of the threat current condition of US politics: the main political parties and the mini-parties within them (as clear an explanation as I've ever seen), the various reasons that the Democratic Party can no longer be trusted with national security, the transparency to the core of the party brought about by the success of Howard Dean, the reasons John Kerry isn't to be trusted on national defense issues, and why he believes George W. Bush is the best choice for our country.
After that it is time to explore the first part of the title: cheating. Or, in this case, Democratic cheating, since that's what the book is about. He covers the main charges against the Democratic Party across American history, namely:
Tammany, Pendergast, and Daley; Kennedy in Texas and Illinois in 1960; Clinton and the Chinese in 1996; Gore and the military absentee ballots in Florida in 2000; Torricelli in New Jersey in 2002; the Ninth Circuit and the California recall.
Initially when I heard Hugh say something to the effect of "Democrats cheat in elections. It's in their genes," I was very defensive ("sins of the father" and all that). I tend to assume that all politicians cheat if given the chance, and unfortunately they often have the chance. That said, he makes a reasonably convincing case that, while things have obviously gone smaller-scale since even the 1960s, Democrats have cheated in the very recent past. But those of you who regularly use the phrase "selected, not elected" will probably be surprised by these statements:
There is a difference between ruthless and rotten. Gore's rampage through Florida [via the courts] after the Bush victory was announced and then verified was ruthless, but it wasn't corrupt.
What was corrupt was the Gore team's decision to use whatever means necessary to suppress absentee votes from military personnel serving overseas.
He then explains that controversy and moves on to Torricelli, and how all these actions point to a win-at-all-costs methodology that should make Republicans pay attention and do their best to win big to make sure that any cheating won't make a difference.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
This sounds like a friend of the Memphis Mafia TCB crew, speculating about Elvis in '76, "I'm telling you guys, he just needs a laxative, otherwise, everything is good".
While you mention security, you don't have one factual point where the Republicrats (what? you have two political mafias in the USSA? How do you tell them apart?) have increased security, freedom or prosperity.
It pretty much seems downhill. And Hewitt just seems like a cheerleader for everything going to hell, just so he could say, "I told you everything is going to hell".
2 - Mark Saleski
dat's pretty funny.
why, just a coupla days ago, some republicans in new hampshire were snagged with their involvement in a scheme to jam democratic "get out the vote" phone banks in the 2002 election.
it's not in the republicans' genes...i guess they musta stepped in something.
3 - Rodney Welch
One word, Steve: Watergate.
4 - MikeD
I appreciate your review. I am glad to see that you agree with educating the masses more with the likes of Hewitt and Prager, rather that Limbaugh and Savage. I plan on buying and enjoying the book.
5 - RJ
Assuming Nixon "stole" the election in 1972 via Watergate (though he was certain to win anyway), perhaps he was just mimicking the behavior of JFK-LBJ from 1960, when the dead awoke in key states, at least for one night, in order to vote for the Democrat ticket?
6 - Rodney Welch
Did Nixon's forces use votes from dead people? I wasn't aware of that, but it wouldn''t surprise me. I mentioned Watergate because the Nixon Administration was so rife with corruption that it renders moot any discussion that Democrats have some sort of foothold on political skullduggery. Nixon would have probably liked Hewitt's book; he didn't like close elections either, and he took every possible illegal measure to avoid them. When Arthur Bremer plugged Governor Wallace, Nixon and Charles Colson personally discussed planting McGovern literature in the assassin's apartment. Maybe the title of Hewitt's book should be all, The More We Cheat, The Better Our Chances: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why My Political Ass Depends on It.
7 - Lono
y'all are wrong and way off. There is no good in the world that can from a republican adminstration but tax breaks for rich white folk. In my eyes, the current administration should be tried and hung for war crimes.
It's ok though, because after the French fraud charges and the FEC charges... Cheney will be indicted by summer 05.
and let's be honest, the Democrats are not resourceful OR evil enough to steal an election. Especially with the conservative bench at the Surpreme Court. I must digress to your professionalism, when it comes to thwarting Democracy and strong arming elections... us Democrats are pretty much a bunch of freedom loving pussies.