Speaking American: How the Democrats Can Win in the Nineties - Softcover

The wisdom Kusnet has gleaned from campaign speechwriting stints with Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis is simple: don't be afraid to sound and look tough regarding crime and foreign policy; reach out to rather than blame the middle class in addressing social problems; stress the party's identity as populist and inclusive rather than as a collection of special-interest groups. For Democrats to regain their political influence, Kusnet believes, they must recapture the traditional Democratic language and rediscover what made the party strong in the first place. He occasionally combines analysis with personal experiences, but mostly to speculate on what campaigners could or should have done. Further, though his analysis of how Democrats can reach middle-class working Americans without alienating specific constituencies seems on the money, he doesn't move from there to ask how the party can get the vote out among those--i.e., the poor--no longer of concern in campaign rhetoric. Since much of Kusnet's advice has become accepted strategy for Democrats in this year's presidential campaign, this work does not carry the punch it might have a year or more ago.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A speechwriter for Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis, Kusnet offers an insider's view of Democratic presidential politics. At its best, Speaking American (the title refers to political communication that reaches the masses) offers solid tactical advice on combating racially charged symbols and portrayals of the Democrats as the party of big government. Such nuggets are outweighed, however, by wordy and wandering writing laden with anecdotes and vignettes from the Mondale and Dukakis campaigns. Kusnet presents little analysis; what he does offer--for example, that the Democrats must focus on the values of the middle class and on economic populism--has been said more succinctly elsewhere. Those few libraries with unlimited funds should have this book for completeness in a presidential election year. The rest will be better served by Barney Frank's crisply focused Frankly Speaking ( LJ 2/15/92) or Thomas Edsall's thoughtful, comprehensive analysis of Democratic politics, Chain Reaction ( LJ 9/15/91). Previewed in "On the Campaign Book Trail," LJ 3/15/92.--Ed.
- Grace Franklin, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.