Book Review: "Voting to Kill"

Blogger Jim Geraghty's new (forthcoming, 9/19) book, Voting to Kill: How 9/11 Launched the Era of Republican Leadership was pleasantly different than I expected. When I got the review copy in the mail I expected another of those breathless screeds against Democrats and the left ... and there was a little of that (Dan Rather is described as a "stubborn, axe-grinding fossil", for example), but there's more here too. This is an insightful look at how the Republican Party made political hay out of 9/11 and the war on terror - and how the Democrats have driven themselves into a national security ditch.

My guess is that conservatives will be the most likely to read this book. My hope, however, is that liberals will read it and understand how they've come to be viewed. While I disagree with some of what's here, it's hard to argue that Michael Moore and George Soros have helped the Democrats' image as a party which takes national security seriously. Geraghty discusses how the last five years have changed American politics, and how even with the multitudinous missteps made by the Administration in Iraq and elsewhere, the GOP is still seen as having the best/only strategy to combat terrorism at home and abroad.

I found this book surprisingly interesting and thought-provoking. It ought to be required reading for Democrats heading into this fall's elections.