I was one of the first “substance experts” to believed that Dean could and should be President, and I remain very upset with the Democratic Party for sabotaging his chances.
This is a great book for the masses who want the stump speech in a very easy to read doubled-spaced form. Unfortunately, it reflects zero understanding of the real world (see my 400+ reviews of non-fiction national security books at Amazon) and it reflects zero understanding of the core issues that need to be dealt with in the US economy (see my review posted today of Robert Rubin's “In An Uncertain World”).
I still believe in Dean, but if he does not get his policy and outreach acts together at the substantive level, but Dean and his campaign manager gave policy substance short-shrift, and this is important *not* because of the details, but because it must be the foundation for creating a coalition government that integrates Independents, moderate Republicans, Greens, Reforms, Libertarians, and “Drop-Outs” (where Barack Obama is making great gains in 2007) into a united electorate that will a) work together in the open and modified primaries to overcome the Democratic Leadership Council bias in favor of beltway “suits” and b) work together in the general election to defeat the well-fended and often illegal endeavors of the Republican extremists, who are *not* playing by the rules and who believe they have a God-given right to steal the 2004 election just as they stole the 2000 election.
This is a fine book for those who want a quick “read” on Dean as a man and potential leader. It does *not* fill the bill for a serious book about integrated policy issues and an executable sustainable budget that addresses the needs of the vast majority of Americans who are not represented by the incumbent President, nor for that matter by the incumbent Democratic and Republican Senators and Representatives that have chosen to give the incumbent President a blank check for over-turning 50 years progress in multilateral global security, environmental and labor protection, public health and education, and civil rights.
Dean has his heart in the right place, and this book documents that. Now we need to read about where his head is at, and that will take another book entirely.
See also, with reviews:
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
Al On America
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World
One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization
The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political–Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption
THE SMART NATION ACT: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest
