The Bulldozer and the Big Tent: Blind Republicans, Lame Democrats, and the Recovery of American Ideals

By Todd Gitlin

Book Overview

This book, by one of America's most intelligent and decent political writers, tells liberals how the conservative movement rose and fell, and how they could emulate its successes while avoiding its failures.
--George Packer, author of Blood of the Liberals and The Assassins' Gate

"No one is better than Todd Gitlin at describing the crucial dynamic through which movements gain or lose political power. Justly celebrated for his seminal work on such dynamics during the 1960s, Gitlin now explains everything that's happened since, with passion and wisdom--and happily, because of Bushism's collapse, legitimate optimism about the future."
--Michael Tomasky, Editor, Guardian America

"An impassioned yet realistic plea for Democrats and liberals to become more serious about politics. They would do well to follow his advice."
--Alan Wolfe, Director, Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, Boston College

"A brilliant and indispensable book. Gitlin convincingly urges liberals to take seriously the greater difficulty the Democrats have forging cohesion among identity-based groups over the Republicans persuading the less diverse Republican base to bury disagreements in the drive for victory. Gitlin argues that Democrats will have to bite the bullet and unite under a big tent. It's a hard lesson for ardent newcomers to the movement to swallow. Gitlin is dead right."
--Thomas B. Edsall, Special Correspondent, The New Republic

"This is an indispensable book by one of our most gifted public intellectuals. Todd Gitlin explains--with splendid scholarship, reporting, and wit--how the Bush machine debased our political life and how progressives, in all their variety, are struggling to build a new majority. It is the best guide we have to America's recent past and its possible future."
--Michael Kazin, author of A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan and Professor of History, Georgetown University

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471748536
• ISBN13: 9780471748533
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

The Bulldozer and the Big Tent; Blind Republicans, Lame Democrats, and the Recovery of American Idea

This is a great book for old liberal political junkies like myself. Todd Gitlin the auther shows no mercy in slicing and dicing the current administration and Christian Conservatives. Those who should buy and read "The Bulldozer and the Big Tent" won't and those who do most will likely ignore the author's conclusions and rather sound political advice. The format is all to familuar Federalists (Hamilton) and Anti-Federalists(Jefferson) with the Democrats being the Federalists and the Republicans being the Jeffersonian Anti-Federalists. I won't give away how Gitlin determined this but some may be amused with his logic. The Republicans are of course ignorant, lazy, uneducated white Christain Southerners and the Democrats are a bunch of hedonistic self certered Liberals who can't get beyond their own petty seft interest. That pretty up much sums up the book. If your are a political junkie you can now fill in the blanks, if you are not, well you haven't got this far in the review . "The Bulldozer and the Big Tent" is for sure one of the first of many books that will tear apart the current Bush administration and where the Republican Party is no at.