Why I Am a Democrat

The late President Kennedy's principal policy adviser and speechwriter articulates the strengths and aims of the Democratic party, explaining the party's basic platform and his own reasons for staying to true to the party line. National ad/promo.

The Democratic Party "must build from the bottom up a national party of citizens," eschewing special interests and corporate donors, declares Sorenson, a corporate lawyer and former JFK speechwriter. Though the author also urges Democrats to differentiate themselves more sharply from Republicans, this sober book is more primer than prescription, as the diplomatic author mostly avoids criticizing what many see as the ideological waffling of President Clinton or the splits within the party. Instead, mixing historical reflections with current commentary, he contends that free-market Republicans attack the poor, not poverty; that we need government, not deregulation, to solve large-scale problems; that anti-tax zealots ignore the fact that Americans pay the lowest taxes in the developed world; that affirmative action, while a "messy, imperfect solution," deserves retention; that the federal government can share power with the states without Republican-style devolution; that Republicans oppose gun control; and that isolationist Republicans oppose important international treaties and disparage the flawed but vital United Nations. Only the Democratic Party, he declares, "has the history, philosophy, diversity and constituency to become once again the Party of Conscience." That political task, however, is beyond the scope of this book.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A clear, though often redundant, argument for sticking with the Democrats in 1996. Sorensen (A Different Kind of Presidency, 1984, etc.), who served President Kennedy as policy adviser, chief counsel, and speechwriter, has lucidly and sensibly outlined the differences between Republicans and Democrats, and the reasons why, in his view, Democratic policies and priorities are better for America. He argues against voting for third-party candidates but saves his sharpest darts for the Republicans--who, he says, have silenced their moderate elements, demonized government (which everyone needs, especially the most disadvantaged, who tend not to vote), exploited race fears, and promoted irresponsible economics. These points have been made before, and Sorensen's prose is a bit dry, so Why I Am a Democrat is not the election year's most exciting political read. He repeats himself far too much and uses too many cute rhetorical devices; for instance, the last sentence of virtually every chapter contains the phrase ``I am a Democrat.'' These problems frequently encumber books written by professional speechwriters, who often fail to realize that while repetition and gimmickry can help a speech stick in a listener's mind, they bore and annoy on the printed page. Sorensen is not as insightful as E.J. Dionne, nor as witty as James Carville, both of whom have also written election-year pleas for liberalism. However, voters will need all the help they can get sorting out the differences between parties this year, given that the Clinton team does its best to obscure these differences, consistently hoping that their man will pass as a mild-mannered Republican (a strategy which, as Sorensen points out, is likely to backfire in the long run). In that context, this can be a helpful guide to basic, capital ``D'' Democratic principles. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

What Carville's We're Right, They're Wrong does for the rock and roll/MTV generations, JFK adviser and biographer Sorenson does for readers who remember World War II--and for younger folk who prefer measured, cogent argument to the Cajun spinmeister's snappy banter. Sorenson has spent the last quarter-century in the plush precincts of one of New York's most powerful law firms but remains committed to the moral and political principles that converted his Progressive Republican parents into FDR Democrats in 1930s Nebraska. After reviewing both parties' histories since the '60s, Sorenson contrasts their principles and policies on economic justice, government's role, taxes, deficits and other fiscal issues, race, federalism, crime, the Constitution, family values and the culture wars, and national defense. With the Gingrich "revolution" emphasizing these differences, Sorenson's argument that party principles matter--and that third parties and not voting simply strengthen the "greater evil" --will be more convincing than in the recent past. While conceding that some Democrats have violated the principles he celebrates, Sorenson urges unity around these concepts as the key to both electoral success and real solutions to the nation's problems. Mary Carroll

Sorensen has written an eloquently articulate definition of the historic differences between the Democratic and Republican parties' positions on topics ranging from family values to federal regulatory philosophy. To students of political science and those familiar with the parties' ideological shifts and evolutions of the last-half century, he does not reveal anything new, but to readers unaware of the traditional tenets of longstanding Democrats, this brief testament by a Kennedy-era stalwart answers a lot of questions in a highly readable style. Sorensen analyzes the Republican Congress's Contract with America and shows how he feels it shortchanges middle-class Americans and benefits wealthy and corporate America. He defines the differences between the parties' positions on social, economic, environmental, and military issues, and he recommends four ways to strengthen and focus the Democratic party to regain public confidence and popular support. For larger collections.?Jill Ortner, SILS, SUNY at Buffalo
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.