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Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics By Jerome ArmstrongMarkos Moulitsas ( Chelsea Green )
Release Date: 2006-09-01
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Product Description
Crashing the Gate is a shot across the bow at the political establishment in Washington, DC and a call to re-democratize politics in America. This book lays bare, with passion and precision, how ineffective, incompetent, and antiquated the Democratic Party establishment has become, and how it has failed to adapt and respond to new realities and challenges. The authors save their sharpest knives to go for the jugular in their critique of Republican ideologues who are now running, and ruining, our country. Written by two of the most popular political bloggers in America, the book hails the new movement of the netroots, the grassroots, the unorthodox labor unions, the maverick big donors that is the antidote to old-school politics as usual. Fueled by advances in technology and a hunger for a more authentic democracy, this broad-based movement is changing the way political campaigns are waged and managed. A must-read book for anyone with an interest in the future of American democracy.
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 Moulitsas and Armstrong present a compelling case ( rickwinrod )
that the Democratic Party has only itself to blame for its recent retreat into second-class status. Party hacks, consultants and pollsters, whose motives have been less than altruistic, have operated with impunity for decades, and have driven this once muscular party into an impotent shell of its former self.
This has led to a dangerous situation of one-party dominance. As the public at-large slowly awakens to this threat, a grassroots movement has grown and flowered, fueled by the internet.
Chances are, a reader of this book will already be involved in this grassroots movement to some degree, even if as just a casual reader of progressive blogs. Moulitsas and Armstrong do a superb job of inspiring their readers to take their involvement up to the next level.
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Enthusiastically recommended for anyone involved in grassroots politics. ( mwbookrevw )
Crashing The Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics is an unabashedly partisan examination of what needs to be done to transform the Democratic party into a viable opposition force to the Republican party, and therefore wrest the nation away from its currently disastrous neocon leadership. Chapters denounce the harm caused by the neocon Republican party, and describe what needs to be done to promote grass-roots opposition within the Democratic party; the authors are quite realistic about the limits of a two-party system, and offer means to reform the Democratic party as the swiftest and most practical way to improve American government. Topics covered include the importance of campaign finance reform, a trough that both Democrats and Republicans feed off of all too frequently; the unfortunate prevalence of unrealistic visions and "single-issue" obsessives within the Democratic party; the changing landscape of modern media; and much more. Enthusiastically recommended for anyone involved in grassroots politics.
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 Markos is a Hypocrite, Undermines Democratic Party
In all of Markos' book about "crashing the gates", he never addresses how the Democratic Party could maintain its relevance in the future if it allows itself to be guided by people like Markos who operate blogs that are only 2.5% Black and 30% female. If he can't even integrate his own website, then how will listening to Markos help the Party to maintain its base and its edge in national elections?
Unfortunately, the same web-based suggestions that helped Howard Dean in 2004 can be used by hypocrital elitists like Markos to create overwhemingly white blogsites (like DailyKos) that ignore the issues and concerns of the women and minorities who make up the majority of the Democratic Party. He should crash his own gates and figure out why there are so few minorities and women at his exclusive website.
francislholland
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Fascinating, maddening read
This book covers much of the political situation for the last six years. It will madden, disgust the reader, but enlighten , too. I was only disappointed that the authors didn't seem to have any real suggestions to Crash the Gate.However since the book was published before the 2006 elections, it appears that much was successful in that task. It explains, too why the Democratic party in DC was unhappy about the final results of that election. But we are happy, though.
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Nice counterpoint to professional blowhards ( blueoysterjoe )
I am not the biggest fan of either of the author's websites. MyDD puts me to sleep and DailyKos is too screechy.
So I did not immediately run out to buy this book when it was released.
My mistake.
This is a great book for those who are frustrated with the status quo of American politics. I don't believe the netroots alone will save the Republic (and neither do they, I bet) but I believe that the philosophy outlined in this book -- a people-based philosophy -- is a step in the right direction.
This is a very quick read, so it's easily worth the purchase or loan.
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