Hertel, Matthew A.

Rating: 4/5 missed opportunities for political revolution

Author:
Bernie Sanders

Amazon Link: referral program on hold :(

After finishing Our Revolution I was compelled to pick up Sanders most recent book, Where We Go from Here, to see what he had to say about the new administration and his desire to run for president again in 2020. As I was reading this book, Sander’s campaign was slowly conceding that the chances for his selection as the Democratic candidate were extremely slim. I wanted to hear Sander’s case for the presidency and give his campaign one last moment of attention before we inevitably move on. Overall, the book was interesting to read, but was more or less what I had expected in that it doesn’t necessarily cover any new philosophical ground and is essentially a collection of public addresses given from 2016 to his presidential campaign announcement in 2018.

It should be no surprise that not much has changed since the 2016 election, Sanders is nothing if not consistent in his message and motivations. I half-expected to read a furious rebuttal to the Trump administration, as the progressive narrative generally and vigorously opposes most recent conservative policies. Sanders avoids this pitfall and manages to abstain from overly focusing his most recent work on Trump and his policies, instead he reinforces his support for the various policy platforms that he described in 2016 and delivers a chronological review of his recent campaign efforts. The positive integration approach is refreshing, effective, and demonstrates Sanders central values of political civility.

Sanders latest book is not significantly different in tone or content than what he presented in Our Revolution. The book serves a different purpose, this time utilizing a recounting of campaign events to drive the central narrative rather than his personal history. I don't find the difference in narrative approach to be compelling for the average reader and I feel the book still suffers the same flaws as his previous text. Fans of Sanders will find the book engaging, but those who aren't motivated to investigate his recent activity will struggle to find motivation for pushing through the material. The book is capable, but the dry, methodical narrative approach does detract from the overall effectiveness of the literature as a tool for his campaign. I would recommend the book to anybody with political interests and progressive leanings. As the Democratic primary draws to a close, it helps to connect the dots of Sanders political trajectory and illustrates the tragedy of missed opportunity if Sanders is not ultimately chosen as the Democratic candidate.

Rating: 5/5 calculated, but charming phrases

Author:
Elizabeth Warren

Amazon Link:
referral program on hold :(

Elizabeth Warren is the democratic candidate that I most closely align with in terms of political beliefs. I didn’t know much about her background or motivations, so I thought I’d pick up her book and see if I could take a closer look at what separates her from other candidates, what kind of background she has, and what motivates her to run for president. I must say that I am very impressed with Warren. She seems genuine and very sharp in her text and she develops her primary policy goals from initial motivation to actionable strategy on a number of progressive fronts. I would recommend the book to any democrat who wants to be politically informed and any progressive who wants to know how her and Sanders differ in their approach to progressive strategy.

Warren’s effort here should be the gold standard for political manifestos. She expertly weaves her personal story in with her political platform. She provides approachable narrative to support her experiences and pulls back the curtain on the political machine in Washington in her policy sections. What she describes as her primary political motivators are progressive goals with a populist shade that are easy to support. Reasoned arguments for policy to strengthen the middle class provides balance to Warren’s emotional argument for progressive social standards concerning education and healthcare.

Warren already was an easy candidate for me to support because of her progressive stance on financial policy and labor. Adding her touching personal story on top of that makes her the total package as a candidate. She is very intelligent, empathetic, has integrity, and has reasoned political motivations that are aimed at correcting the power imbalance in government. She is also a woman, which is significant on it’s own, but especially so, considering the 2016 election. America is ready for a female president and we should recognize that Hilary’s defeat may have been the only path to this moment for Warren. I feel that most liberal-leaning voters will have no choice but to be enthusiastic and supportive.

Warren describes her political goals and provides a means to achieve them. Her primary draw of resources is from restructured tax plans to increase government income from the richest Americans, corporations included. If you have an income-utility outlook on taxation, this is absolutely the right direction. Warren provides data and numbers to support her policies, enough to convince the reader she knows what she is doing, but not enough to distract from her narrative. Overall, Warren has crafted a fine book and has set the stage for political and popular support toward her bid at the presidency. I absolutely support her and I can’t wait to see how she handles the rest of the election cycle.