Rating: 
Summary: Turning the tables on the Left!
Review: I had read many of David Horowitz's colums in frontpage mag and Salon before reading this book which made many of the essays nothing new to me. However, it's jammed packed with the former Lefty turned Righty at his best. If only the folks on the right stood up as Horowitz does? Recommended reading for anyone wishing to hone their debating skills with the Left.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts well, ends oddly
Review: I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, where Horowitz covers the ways and means of political war. In the chapters that followed he showed examples of the principles in action, but then began to drift.By the end of the book he'd returned to a recurring theme: his involvement with, and separation from, the Black Panther Party. By then it was far from obvious how any of this might fit in with political war. On top of which, if you've read his other books and his Salon columns you've already seen this material a number of times. So, three stars. Don't get me wrong. I think DH is a great man. This is just not one of his greatest works.
Rating:
Summary: Starts well, ends oddly
Review: I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, where Horowitz covers the ways and means of political war. In the chapters that followed he showed examples of the principles in action, but then began to drift. By the end of the book he'd returned to a recurring theme: his involvement with, and separation from, the Black Panther Party. By then it was far from obvious how any of this might fit in with political war. On top of which, if you've read his other books and his Salon columns you've already seen this material a number of times. So, three stars. Don't get me wrong. I think DH is a great man. This is just not one of his greatest works.
Rating: 
Summary: David Horowitz is a Misguided, Scary Human Being
Review: If you are one of the lucky people who know that David Horowitz is nothing but a house of cards, then this will be soemwhat useless to you. But if you are one of the very few people who may actually consider him a valid source on politics. What he fails to realize is that both liberals and conservatives have become so homogenized in America that both liberals and conservatives with few exceptions base their "issues" on interest groups and lobbyists, while at the same time trying their hardest to straddle the fence of almost every problem. Nowhere is this more apparent than election years. Both liberals and conservatives leave a "helpless citizenry" by marginalizing them and disregarding their problems in exchange for anyone who can cough up six figure donations. The reason people view the democrats with the "Puritan" outlook is because they try to attach themselves to social issues republicans stray away from. The only way republicans can, as Horowitz says, "keep liberty as their watchword", is by stop letting it be so apparent that capitalism is the only motivation for their actions. Furthermore, I would love to know the "ideology" of the Democratic Party that has entered the hearts of Americans, because, unlike liberal parites in the consensus democracies of western Europe, the Democratic party of the United States as well as the Republican (duh) are simple brokerage parties whose patrimonial practices are their only "ideologies". The political war Horowitz refers to shows this lack of ideology because the simple truth of the matter is that if ideology existed in American political institutions, there would be no need for campaigning tactics because the people could vote on the ideologies that fit them the best. Sadly our nation's political parties are so lukewarm that the only way they can achieve power is by gerrymandering, selling themselves to corporate interest, and concluding any issue they think voters will like more into their platforms. On the issue of racism and Horowitz's racist mindset, it would be hard to fathom that a magazine as widely read as Time(which does not necessary mean it is an informative news source) would not call someone a "real live bigot" without just cause which it can be certain they had when they labelled Horowitz as one. SO anyone who wants to read a sound, informative book on American politics try reading the credentials of the author before you start. I would dare say I would trust a professor from an national university before I would trust a racist, factless firestarter such as Horowitz who only has even less credentials as a political scientist as he does as a writer. When you read this book, you are reading his agenda. Maybe you knew that though. In which case, this review is falling on deaf ears.
Rating: 
Summary: TheTruth.commie
Review: Leave it to an ex-commie to tell the honest truth with such passion: In a world where some people apparently still muster blind faith enough to continue, for example, to buy what Howard Zinn is selling, Mr. Horowitz possesses an unwaivering moral integrity that is nothing less than heroic.
Rating:
Summary: Challenging, insightful, and occasionally iconoclastic
Review: Modern American politics is a kind warfare without guns. In The Art Of Political War And Other Radical Pursuits, the once radical activist David Horowitz examines how Bill Clinton's generation of "centrist democrats" mastered the art of politics and successfully challenged their conservative opposition through the decade of the 90s. Horowitz surveys the six principles of politics that the left understands and conservatives do not. He then warns against the essentially liberal inclusion to supervise the lives of a dependent citizenry. The Art Of Political War is informative, candid, challenging, insightful, occasionally iconoclastic, and always highly recommended reading for students of the American political system in general, and the past decade of conservative political frustration in particular.
Rating:
Summary: Challenging, insightful, and occasionally iconoclastic
Review: Modern American politics is a kind warfare without guns. In The Art Of Political War And Other Radical Pursuits, the once radical activist David Horowitz examines how Bill Clinton's generation of "centrist democrats" mastered the art of politics and successfully challenged their conservative opposition through the decade of the 90s. Horowitz surveys the six principles of politics that the left understands and conservatives do not. He then warns against the essentially liberal inclusion to supervise the lives of a dependent citizenry. The Art Of Political War is informative, candid, challenging, insightful, occasionally iconoclastic, and always highly recommended reading for students of the American political system in general, and the past decade of conservative political frustration in particular.
Rating:
Summary: What you've always wanted to know about politics!!
Review: Purchase this book; you will not be disappointed!!! This book does a fantastic job of describing why liberal politicians have faired so well in the world of politics. It further goes on to describe the ways in which conservative politicians can capitalize on the practices of liberals in order to achieve their goals. As usual, Mr. Horowitz's candor about the way in which politics work in America is superb, and his ability to express himself on paper has never been better. This book is a relatively quick read, and it is certainly easy to follow. Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or Libetarian, this book will provide you with valuabe insight regarding the workings of American politics in both a pragmatic and philosophical sense.
Rating:
Summary: What you've always wanted to know about politics!!
Review: Purchase this book; you will not be disappointed!!! This book does a fantastic job of describing why liberal politicians have faired so well in the world of politics. It further goes on to describe the ways in which conservative politicians can capitalize on the practices of liberals in order to achieve their goals. As usual, Mr. Horowitz's candor about the way in which politics work in America is superb, and his ability to express himself on paper has never been better. This book is a relatively quick read, and it is certainly easy to follow. Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or Libetarian, this book will provide you with valuabe insight regarding the workings of American politics in both a pragmatic and philosophical sense.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful polemic
Review: Speaking as a former leftist, I have to say that David Horowitz here lays out a pretty hard but in many ways honest map of the "progressive" mindset and how it leads them to certain political strategies. He then goes on to make some pretty interesting recommendations for conservatives and Republicans in order to combat that in politics. It's certainly a pretty good picture of what one side of the political fight looks like today. Leftists especially will find interesting how conservatives view them--there's more here than they might expect. This document has been very popular in Republcan circles and formed at least part of the Bush election strategy in 2000. One question Horowitz fails to ask himself and thus his audience is whether or not the strategies used by the political left are as effective as he thinks. Horowitz mostly seems to advise conservatives to take up the most negative methods used by the left to win elections. The question is: will doing so alienate the "silent majority" types who resent and react negatively to the types of tactics he advocates? Insightful and thought-provoking, this book played a big part in the American political campaigns of 2000, and might well play as big or bigger a role in 2002 and 2004. As such, it's very interesting reading, no matter whether you agree with Horowitz or not.
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