cover image The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted

The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted

Mike Lofgren. Viking, $22.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-670-02626-5

Lofgren expands his much-read article, “Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult” (originally published on the site Truthout) into a book-length scrupulously bipartisan diagnosis of the sick state of American politics and governance. The former congressional staffer saves the greater part of his bile for his former party, which he sees as having become inflexibly ideological and devoted to its richest contributors’ interests. Lofgren makes sure, however, to blast President Obama and his fellow Democrats for the same bad habits, primarily belligerence, disregard for privacy, and compliance with lobbyists. The general points are familiar, but Lofgren offers ideas drawn from a career in government dating back to the early 1980s. Nostalgic memories of now-striking examples of bipartisan cooperation join damning moments, like a Republican policymaker’s admission that the party aimed to obstruct the Senate for political gain. Lofgren offsets occasional cheap shots, such as against “Gucci-shod” lobbyists, by devoting close attention to budget issues rarely accorded so much detail in garden-variety op-ed warfare. Sustaining his original thesis well beyond Internet-browsing attention spans, Lofgren has crafted an angry but clear-sighted argument that may not sit well at family reunions or dinner parties, but deserves attention. Agent: Bridget Wagner Matzie, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Agency. (Aug.)