A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat

Rating:
Summary: An embarrassment not just for the Democrats...
Review: nor even just for Zell Miller himself. This book is a humiliation for anyone who had hopes that the South had really moved on from Jim Crow and the delusions of aristocracy that the political elite like Zell Miller maintain. It is a throwback to plantation days. Zell Miller demonstrates in his characteristically rabid, if not eloquent, prose that not all white trash live in trailer parks...some trash, like Miller, have apparently gotten quite well to do on the backs of the people, living high and mighty off of tax dollars, and all the while, step and fetchin' for his corporate masters.

This book, much like any mention of ol' Zell, makes me want to vomit. Don't waste even a nickel on this trash. Zell is wealthy enough.

Rating:
Summary: Acid Test Should Not Determine One's Party
Review: There has been a split in political philosophy ever since the founding of this country. One side favors limited government and is called conservative. Another side favors activist government and is called liberal. And then there are the voters, the majority of whom fall in between. Zell Miller walks the line most would support.

The major difference between the two political parties is embodied in this book. Tell me when was the last time a pro-lifer addressed the Democratic Convention? I don't think it has ever happened. The Republican Party is pro-life at least in its platform but allows pro-choicers and moderates not only to speak but to be prominent. Miller has been a keynote speaker at both, introducing Clinton in 1992 and Bush in 2004. And it is clear he knows what he's talking about.

Miller demonstrates why the Democratic Party - the national party - has never come to grips with what is going on in the South. It is not as simple as racism even though some party elders continue to play that card. Southerners as a people - and I am one myself - are suspicious of anybody who talks about an issue too much even if we concede civil disagreement with him.

Miller's plainspokenness would make him a good President. He tells exactly why he supported Bush on several issues including the appointment of Ashcroft and the war in Iraq. He doesn't play politics, he embodies representation for the people. A very good book to read to understand where the Democratic Party used to be - and where it must go again to survive.



Rating:
Summary: Democrat Zell
Review: I can tell you this: Zell Miller is to good of a Democrat to not give his party a thrashing when it needs it.

Rating:
Summary: Well-written and pulls no punches...
Review: Zell Miller chronicles for us his dissenting views from within his own party. An easy read, the book's strength is demonstrated when Miller takes us through his political life and shows how, over time, his party's belief system has changed, and how it could return to its roots.

This was a very interesting read in light of the 2004 presidential election results. Miller seems to have been vindicated in his indictment of his party's inability to win elections, and especially in his emphasis on gaining Republican power in the South.

Though not an especially deep read, this book will bring to readers a different perspective on the importance of the South in contemporary American politics.

Rating:
Summary: Grossly Overrated
Review: This is supposedly a condemnation of the Democratic Party and a prescription for how they can heal themselves. Instead it is more of a treatise of Zell Miller's life and philosophy. The reviewers say the Democratic Party would do well to heed his warnings but his warnings are buried somewhere in over 230 pages of remembrances. I doubt the Democratic Party would listen to his prescription but he could have done a better job articulating that prescription.

Overall a very weak and disappointing book.

Rating:
Summary: Tells is like it is
Review: I just finished Sen. Miller's book and I must say I really enjoyed it. This is a man that does indeed go with his conscience... Zell is a man of God... yes, he even admitted his regret to backing "Roe v. Wade" and other political blunders in his career.

The Democratic Party really needs to read this book... he's simply afraid the party he's been with "since birth" is going to take the route of the Whig Party... to extinction.

But, I don't think the Democrats will ever listen. They've been pandering to unions and other special interest groups for quite a while. Sure the Republicans have S.E. groups as well but the GOP SE Groups at least stay out of the limelight...

A true southerner... tells it like it is. Liberals are ashamed of him and are labeling him a "traitor" because he simply didn't back Sen. Kerry in the '04 Election. I just wish Zell would run for President in 2008... he would be one Democrat that this Republican would vote for! Way to give 'em hell, Zell!!!

Rating:
Summary: Grumpy Old Man
Review: Mr. Miller spends a long time spewing out the same old ignorant, hateful, and fear injecting stuff that so many others have been regurgitating for a long time. He uses few facts to back up his points and just seems to be a confused & grumpy old man.

Rating:
Summary: Like it or night, He's right.
Review: This book was written well before the 2004 presidential election, in it a prominent and successful lifetime Democrat tells the world that his party is no longer one that can hold or hope to hold any national majority; in it he warns of the errors in thought and philosophy that his party is making; in it he predicts failure at the national level for his party. All these things are true, and 2004 proved that at the national level, the Democrats are failures. This book helps explain why. For these reasons alone, this book should be read.

Rating:
Summary: A National Party No More
Review: This is a very nice book from a very honest man, I only wish there were more like Zell Miller in politics today.

Rather than write a fluffy biography like Bill Clinton did, Zell Miller writes his conscience and explains very clearly what he hopes will happen to make the Democratic party a National Party once again.

Of coarse the only possible way this would happen is if most Republicans were to change parties but still it is the thought that counts!

Way to go Zell!



Rating:
Summary: A most deceptive title........
Review: It would be more accurate to say, "The World According to Zell's New Hero, W."

The reason I gave the book one star is that the title is in no way descriptive of the book. There is no analysis of the party -- only invective and criticism. His take on the party, and he's got a point, is that the party has been taken over by special interests. He could have accomplished that in two pages, and in fact does.

The rest of the book is "Zell's Biography" and "What Zell Thinks About Everything Else."

I read with interest his background and how he came to be what he came to be. He is one of us, and what the middle class is. We work hard, we aspire to an education, we try to do right by others. I was dumbfounded, therefore, by his obvious adoration and hero-worship of W, who has not demonstrated even 10% of the values that Zell discussed, learned and lived. I am at a loss to understand why, then, that Zell wrote this book, sputtered and yelled at the Republican convention, and why he went off the deep end and challenged Chris Matthews to a duel. I understand being cut off from a party you loved and gave your life to, but to buddy up to everything that is the opposite of what you are? And to write a book that is the equivalent of stamping your feet and screaming in print?

I am an unapologetic liberal, and I am just as disgusted by the DNC as he is (which is why I read the book). I refuse to give to the DNC for the reasons Zell is so mad at them -- they are incompetent and they have sold us out. I still respected Zell (even after his speech at the convention) -- until I read this book. He has tossed aside everything that is good about living right, working hard, and playing by the rules. Instead of screaming speeches, finger-pointing, nutty comments, and doe-eyed worship of someone that is none of what you value, how about getting in there with the rest of us and offering real solutions to fixing the travesty that the party has become?