Rating: 
Summary: Timely Reading
Review: I lean conservative but firmly believe in many of the democratic principles espoused by Zell Miller and found this book very interesting. Beginning with his roots in the mountains of rural Georgia, Miller takes us through his life of public service, and he describes what was once the party of FDR and JFK and compares it to a party which has become beholden to special interests and is still mired in anger over the 2000 presidential loss to George W. Bush. Miller is for strong national security and tax cuts, but that doesn't make him a Republican at all; as he says, it reflects the way things used to be in his party.I'm sure Miller has infuriated many Democrats by calling them out of touch, but the fact that the party does so poorly in the South, in his opinion, has much more to do with the inability of the party to relate to everyone than the South being unable to relate to the party. A quick, breezy, enlightening read from an "old-school" Democrat, full of what appears to be great advice for a party he still loves and wants very much to help. Recommended for anyone in Georgia who's followed his career over the years, and for anyone who follows politics and wants a clear assessment of today's Democratic party.
Rating: 
Summary: Brief instances of insight among the fluff
Review: I view myself as an old school Democrat. I've heard much about Zell Miller's views on the Democratic Party being way out of touch with mainstream Americans. So I was expecting this book to go point by point on the main issues, how the Dems are too far to the left and what a more centrist position would be. There were some instances of this on the big name issues (abortion, gun control, national security, etc.). But the substantive stuff was buried underneath lots of useless fluff (i.e., stories about how he addressed this when he was in Georgia state government, family stories, random quotes from random places, etc.) I was disappointed in the book. My main problem with the book is that it spends no time looking at how issues that play well among Southern voters would be disastrous among voters in the rest of the country. I would have hoped Miller would have used some demographics data to show how the traditional Dem voting base in the South is simply no longer there anymore. I would have hoped Miller would have delved deeper into why national Dems are so subservient to certain major interest groups (which revolves around campaign donations - another topic that received very little attention from Miller). But there was none of that. What there was were lots of personal anecdotes, all delivered in a "down home" type of way. That's fine and all for a personal biography. But I thought this book was going to be a serious look at why the Democratic Party is where it is, how it got there, and how to get it back on track. I was also disappointed that very little in-depth attention was given to the 2000 presidential elections. My view is that the lingering anger and resentment over the way that election turned out helps explain why there is such a turn to the left among the Democrats. No time is spent explaining why a majority of the population voted for either Gore or Nader rather than Bush, yet Miller argues the country doesn't like national liberal politicians. If you're an old-school or centrist Democrat and are looking for a insightful book on your branch of the Democratic Party, this is not it. It's an ok book, but filled with too many personal anecdotes and too little in-depth analysis and recommendations. What works in rural Georgia does not work in other parts of the country. This is rather self-evident, but Miller's book mostly ignores that simple fact.
Rating: 
Summary: A PATRIOTIC DEMOCRAT IS PRETTY RARE THESE DAYS
Review: Zell Miller is an American patriot. It is wrong to say that the Democrat party is unpatriotic, because Miller represents the best this old party has to offer. However, slowly but surely, they have been overtaken by a Leftist slant, led by Ted Kennedy, that is shameful. If I were Miller I would be disgusted, which he apparently is.
Rating:
Summary: I love Zell Miller, but...
Review: unlike the majority of reviewers here, I actually read the book. It's a benign read by a very nice man. And to all those reviewers who call Miller a "Republican," remember that Kennedy fought Communism and cut taxes by historic amounts (to the everlasting shame of his overflowing brother Teddy). JFK would be booted right out of today's Democratic party as the 'Republican' he was. Which tells you just how far off the deep end the Dems have jumped. Back to Zell. He tells his life story in this book, sort of establishing his Democratic Pary bona fides. Isn't it funny that at one time Democrats were allowed to be pro-life? Al Gore, Richard Gephardt, Bill Clinton, so many have had to abandon their conscience just to stay in their party's good graces when the abortion lobby took over. Miller never did. He's stayed true to his principles and finds himself almost always being dragged leftward with his party. So he's leaving politics. I think if he'd stayed governor of Georgia, he'd have a taste for it still. But to be thrown in amongst the radicals in Washington has got to be a bit of a shock for a good ol' boy. The book does not flow, though. I found myself frequently somewhere on the page, wondering how I'd gotten there and not remembering a word of what I'd just read. There are portions of this book that are memorable, that make you feel this is a good man with a sharp sense of what he believes and wants. He should have put his book through 4 or 5 more rewrites with an editor who was truly his friend. He could have sharpened and refined his message and used the autobiographical nature of the narrative to build and strengthen his case. Instead we get a collection of chapters that look as though each was written as a column and then all were collected and bound together: the Collected Works of Zell Miller. That said, I'm glad I read Miller's book. It makes me wish he had put his money where his mouth is and switched parties temporarily the day Jumpin' Jim Jeffords pulled the ol' bait and switch on the voters of New Hampshire and shifted control of the Senate to the 'selected, not elected' Democrats. Just so fairness could rule. He laments the unscrupulousness of his Democratic colleagues, but when he had the power to put a stop to it, he was MIA. Must be a Democrat after all, no matter how conservative.
Rating: 
Summary: A National Party No More - Sorry - Go Home - Shut Up!
Review: A National Party No More - Sorry - Go Home - Shut Up! Well, he's long been a joke amongst politicians on both sides of the isle. Sorry Zell, you old redneck fart, the bar is closed, you have no friends. Democrats loathe you, Republicans think you are feeble minded, and independents like myself think your just plain old stupid. Zell Miller is part of that ever shrinking, ignorant minority that believes George Bush Jr. is a good person and a good president. I do not know why he continues to label himself a Democrat as it is clear from this book that he does not support the party or anything it stands for. As the Republican Party has morphed into the party of ignorance and blind sheep, the Democrats have grown and changed with the times. George Bush is the modern Republican idea of a good president...ignorant, unethical, illiterate, morally corrupt but full of Jesus (at least for the cameras). This is what Zell Miller believes America needs. Anyone with a brain may beg to differ.
Rating:
Summary: This book should be used as a text book in every high school
Review: This book has to be one of the most important and informative books I have read in a very long time. This book should be read by EVERY voting American before going to the polls.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you, Senator Miller
Review: I thought this was a venue to review a book, not to vent personal political opinions, which is what many have done. I don't care about your political beliefs, I just want to know you read the book and have an honest opinion of its contents. Anyway, Senator Miller relates the hijacking of the Democratic party from the likes of Presidents Truman and Kennedy, Scoop Jackson and other leading Democrats who were more interested in bettering the U.S. instead of chasing after minority votes with money and promises. He understands the necessity of defending our country from those who want to destroy us, even if preemptive strikes are necessary to attack "them" before they attack us. I'm sure the mainstream, liberal press has ignored this book, their usual practice, but I found it enlightening and very interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Zell for President in 2008!
Review: I'm a conservative Republican in a family full of Democrats, so I have a good idea how Zell must feel, being a conservative in a party that has been hijacked and overrun by a bunch of 60's radicals (the Clintons, Algore, John F'n Kerry, etc.). If only our two parties could make a trade, kind of like the trades professional sports teams make when they exchange. In exchange for Zell Miller, the Democrats could have one of our moderate-to-liberal members in the Senate (I suggest John McCain). "A National Party No More" hits the nail on the head when Zell shows how the modern Democratic Party has lost touch with the American mainstream. Miller sounds off on a number of issues including taxes, welfare reform, gun rights, abortion and the values gap. If the Dems ever want my vote in a Presidential election, the only way it will happen is if they nominate Zell Miller. But since that will never happen, the McCain-for-Miller trade is the next best thing I could hope for.
Rating:
Summary: He'd better change parties or burn forever!
Review: Zell may love this Nation's Godly President Bush, as Jesus commands, but until he changes his party title from Demon-RAT to Godly Republican, he will burn in the Lake of Fire forever & EVER, AMEN! PRAISE!
Rating:
Summary: Miller the Republican
Review: Zell Miller labels himself a conservative Democrat. Note to Zell: There's a difference between being a conservative Dem and a Republican, which is what he has become. The guy votes with Bush 100% of the time. How can he even label himself a Dem? This is not the story of a Democrat voting for Bush in 2004. It's the story of a Republican voting for Bush in 2004.
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