FREE Conservative Book Giveaway and Review

hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org ^ | October 26, 2010

[hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org]

How to win a free copy of “She’s the Boss: The Disturbing Truth About Nancy Pelosi,” by Rochelle Schweizer:

Sentinel was kind enough to give me three copies of the book to give away to readers of Hope is Not a Foreign Policy. The rules are simple. For each action you take (see list below), leave a comment indicating what you have done. Leave a new comment for each new action that you take. For example, if you blog about the giveaway on your blog, leave a comment. If you post the giveaway on your Facebook News Feed, leave a comment. The winners will be determined by a randomized number drawing, so the more comments you leave, the better your chances of winning.

Chances are if you’re a conservative–or judging by this latest Gallup Poll, an Independent voter–you do not have a favorable impression of Nancy Pelosi. In fact, if you’re a conservative, then the mere mention of her name likely conjures up a number of images and thoughts that offend your limited government sensibilities: Obamacare, San Francisco liberalism (turns out she’s from Baltimore!), big government, etc. Rochelle Schweizer’s book, She’s the Boss: The Disturbing Truth About Nancy Pelosi, provides an interesting and unvarnished portrait of the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In a well footnoted account, Schweizer details Pelosi’s rise to power through the San Francisco Democratic Establishment and her formative years in Baltimore, where she learned the business of politics from her father, Big Tommy D’Alesandro, the Baltimorean equivalent of Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall Machine. In fact, ”Little Nancy,” as she was known in those days, learned the importance of patronage and influence peddling watching her father operate as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and then as Mayor of Baltimore.

The book chronicles her hard-fought battle against Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer in 2001 for the position of minority whip, her campaign for minority leader, and her eventual accession to the Speaker’s office. For those who have forgotten: Pelosi, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, is third in the presidential line of succession. Schweizer also reminds readers that while President Obama signed the health-care reform bill on March 23, 2010–it was Pelosi who, using everything she had learned from Big Tommy, jammed the incredibly unpopular piece of legislation through the House of Representatives.

Schweizer’s central argument is that Pelosi is not only a “granola-liberal San Francisco ideologue,” but a cold and calculating political boss in the tradition of Boss Tweed, her father Big Tommy, and her San Fransisco mentor, former Congressman Phil Burton. Pelosi knows she isn’t loved and she has no problem with being feared. In fact, she cares little about public opinion polls. She knows full well that her views are wildly out of touch with the vast majority of Americans. But with the power of structure of the Democratic Party and the dominance of liberals over moderate and conservative Democrats, popularity with the majority of the American people is simply not required for a leadership post. As Schweizer concludes, “Nancy Pelosi rose to power not on the basis of ideas but by pulling the master levers of a fine-tuned machine–raising money, demanding loyalty, and enforcing uncompromising discipline when necessary.” For Pelosi, the quest for power has always trumped ideology.

While her tenure as Speaker certainly appears to be winding down (what is more, she has a serious challenger this year for her seat), Schweizer’s book helps conservatives to understand Nancy Pelosi–the political boss rather than simply the liberal lighting rod she’s most widely known for being. It’s difficult for a conservative to unemotionally analyze Pelosi, but it’s important to remember Sun Tzu’s adage to “Know they enemy.” If conservatives are to be successful in the realm of ideas and on the battleground of electoral politics they need to understand the modern Democratic Party and the state of the liberal movement in America. Pelosi represents the views, strategies, and tactics of the liberal left in America.

http://www.hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org/2010/10/23/free-book-giveaway-shes-the-boss-the-disturbing-truth-about-nancy-pelosi/