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alexreino's review
4.0
A compelling, detailed read, but I was expecting a bit more analysis from Kornacki.
marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
Steve Kornacki's book became on my radar due to his election coverage and honestly his writing is just as thorough and easy to digest.
cindyreads2024's review
4.0
Having lived through the timeline and historical context he provides, I realized I was so busy living the times, I was unable to appreciate the changes that were happening. This is the type of book that allows you an opportunity to look back at history to see the affects of media, social change, and shifting cultural paradigms effect our politics.
fredcthulhu's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent book chronicling the descent of American politics in the 90s into tribalism. It follow the rise of Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton and how there brand of politics helped lead to the deep divide this country currently experiences.
colemanwarnerwriter's review
5.0
Written by a really compelling storyteller, this book gives insight into how the 90s would shape not only American history but also give rise to the arena of modern day politics. A piece of non-fiction that reads like a novel.
iceberg0's review
3.0
Serviceable political history of the America in the early 90's but I was hoping for more insight into the rise of the tribalism in the US.
papidoc's review
5.0
In The Red and the Blue, author Steve Kornacki takes his readers on a deep dive into the events, motivations, and intrigues surrounding the rise of Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, and the outcomes of their political machinations. I lived through that period, encompassing mostly the 1990-2000 era, as an adult, and remember vividly much of what Kornacki discusses, but some of it was still a revelation to me.
Kornacki's insights into political processes and maneuverings, the naked ambitions (over and above what I believe were at least sometimes sincere motivations), and the way human actions were interwoven with the political and economic environments in ways the individuals involved could not have anticipated with any real accuracy was astonishing. For example,consider the accurately predicted impact of the Bush tax increase on the economy, which was nonetheless delayed by a half a decade and thus led to his political demise after one term as president. Or the evolving conditions that took the relatively unknown Clinton to the White House for two terms.
I also found myself, yet again, wondering how it is that for so many people, power and prestige seem to lay the seeds for their downfall...or probably should have done. Denny Hastert, Bob Livingston, Gary Hart, Jack Abramoff, Robert Packwood, Tom Delay, Newt Gingrich, Dan Rostenkowski. David Vitter, James Traficant, and so many others...and that's only in a single decade! It's deeply troubling to me that so many of our country's so-called leaders have the morality of a tomcat. I can't help but wonder if there is something about the trappings of political and social power that not only attract such people, but that give them opportunity and even encouragement to indulge their basest motivations.
Apologies for the dark turn, but the question arose frequently in my mind as I was reading The Red and the Blue. As a professor of leadership, I sincerely hope that we have others in positions of leadership in this country who take a different, more self-disciplined, stance. Despite the misgivings that arose as I read this book, it was a good read, and I recommend.
Kornacki's insights into political processes and maneuverings, the naked ambitions (over and above what I believe were at least sometimes sincere motivations), and the way human actions were interwoven with the political and economic environments in ways the individuals involved could not have anticipated with any real accuracy was astonishing. For example,consider the accurately predicted impact of the Bush tax increase on the economy, which was nonetheless delayed by a half a decade and thus led to his political demise after one term as president. Or the evolving conditions that took the relatively unknown Clinton to the White House for two terms.
I also found myself, yet again, wondering how it is that for so many people, power and prestige seem to lay the seeds for their downfall...or probably should have done. Denny Hastert, Bob Livingston, Gary Hart, Jack Abramoff, Robert Packwood, Tom Delay, Newt Gingrich, Dan Rostenkowski. David Vitter, James Traficant, and so many others...and that's only in a single decade! It's deeply troubling to me that so many of our country's so-called leaders have the morality of a tomcat. I can't help but wonder if there is something about the trappings of political and social power that not only attract such people, but that give them opportunity and even encouragement to indulge their basest motivations.
Apologies for the dark turn, but the question arose frequently in my mind as I was reading The Red and the Blue. As a professor of leadership, I sincerely hope that we have others in positions of leadership in this country who take a different, more self-disciplined, stance. Despite the misgivings that arose as I read this book, it was a good read, and I recommend.
katscribefever's review
3.0
To begin, I should confess a girlish truth: I checked out this tome in text and audiobook editions for one reason only--it was penned by MSNBC election wizard Steve Kornacki. When I dug into the content, however, I was filled with a softer mix of fascination and nostalgia as I heard milestones from history that I had lived through but remembered only as "I was alive when" anecdotes. Kornacki manages to gather a giant volume of material and present it not as disconnected happenings but as a narrative, bringing it to the reader's eye with a flow that we don't often get to experience as it occurs in real time on our televisions or smart devices. Today's readers of this book will find names they may have forgotten about, like Newt Gingrich and Ross Perot, and others they'll know very well, including Donald Trump and Joe Biden. In case you've been living under a rock, there's been a huge collection of people in recent years asking how America's political system morphed into what it is today; if you're part of that group, this book sets about the immense task of answering your question.