
Why the Right Went Wrong
Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond
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Narrated by:
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Mike Chamberlain
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By:
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E. J. Dionne Jr.
Why the Right Went Wrong offers a historical view of the right since the 1960s. Its core contention is that American conservatism and the Republican Party took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater's worldview during and after the 1964 campaign. Since 1968, no conservative administration could live up to the rhetoric rooted in the Goldwater movement that began to reshape American politics 50 years ago. The collapse of the Nixon presidency led to the rise of Ronald Reagan, the defeat of George H. W. Bush, and Newt Gingrich's revolution. Bush initially undertook a partial modernization, preaching "compassionate conservatism". Conservatives quickly defined him as an advocate of "big government" and not conservative enough on spending, immigration, education, and Medicare. A return to the true faith was the only prescription on order. The result was the Tea Party.
The state of the Republican Party, controlled by the strictest base, is diminished, E. J. Dionne, Jr. writes. It has become white and older in a country that is no longer that. It needs to come back to life for its own health and that of the country, and in Why the Right Went Wrong, he explains how.
©2016 E. J. Dionne, Jr. (P)2016 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
Outstanding, refreshing, inspiring
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Interesting food for thought in this political season.
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The Long Road to the Attack on our Democracy
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Full of interesting insights
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a view of conservative politics from a journalist
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There is no left wing attack here, just a logical chronology of how the Republican party has cornered itself politically by running on an unrealistic "small government" platform that they have never delivered. This has gradually infuriated those who believed and elected those "small government" candidates, which drives the party further right each cycle.
Also details the party's brief experiment in Compassionate Conservatism during the W Bush administration and how, whilst largely a superficially implemented political philosophy, was possibly forever tainted by his unpopular presidency even in Republican circles.
As an Independent who yearns for a government that is not in constant deadlock, I hope Republicans read this book and/or work to find a new, more constructive and open political direction - and then rejoin the work of national problem solving.
Exhaustive, Dry and True
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I think this book would be particularly good for those not old enough to remember LBJ, Goldwater, and how an actor became president. I do wish Dionne had done his own narration but I have no real complaints.
Review of recent American politics
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A good analysis
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Wolf in sheep's clothing. False pretense of the book.
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Too Long
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