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

Why have the Republicans been so much better than Democrats at getting and exercising power? Why, even after a series of disasters culminating in the "thumpin'" his party took in the 2006 elections, is George W. Bush still the darling of an enormous political base? And what connects Bush's enduring appeal to the seemingly inexplicable rise of Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson and the sudden popularity of Barack Obama?

In The Bulldozer and the Big Tent, Todd Gitlin—long acknowledged as one of America's smartest observers of politics, media, and movements—argues that one thing matters to voters more than faith, values, policies, or track records: style. Voters pick their leaders based on qualities they perceive or aspire to in themselves. Republicans want a bulldozer, a decider, a "commander guy." Faction-ridden Democrats seek a candidate who can look like all things to all people: triangulators who can pitch a big enough tent to fit every kind of Democrat inside. Every Republican is looking for a leader, and every Democrat thinks he is one.

These preferences, Gitlin reveals, are reflected not only in the candidates chosen but also in the way the parties organize, operate, and present themselves. Gitlin takes a long, hard look at the history of the conservative movement in America—its genesis, its methods, and its powerful mix of big-business money, fundamentalist fervor, and take-no-prisoners attitude. He demonstrates that George W. Bush is far more than a champion of the conservative cause: he is the personification of everything that the movement hopes for and believes about itself.

For decades, the Democrats, Gitlin contends, met the onslaught of the highly organized, seamlessly unified, meticulously coordinated, passion-driven Republican bulldozer with its antithesis: a weak and tentative conglomeration of eight sometimes-overlapping interest groups. Each group tended to focus on its own issues and mistrust the motives of its "allies." Any presidential candidate who couldn't make a powerful appeal to each of these groups without offending the others stood a good chance of being demolished at the polls.

Every Republican is looking for a leader, and every Democrat thinks he is one. This single, remarkable insight unties many of the knottiest questions in politics today. Do blogs really make a difference? Who's winning the culture war? And what, if anything, is the matter with Kansas?

In what is possibly Todd Gitlin's sharpest, most sweeping, and engaged piece of political analysis yet, The Bulldozer and the Big Tent brings it all together in a rich, discursive story that will change the way you think about partisanship in America.

"Professor and political analyst Gitlin (former president of SDS) utilizes the current president's political trajectory as a jumping off point for a sprawling discussion of the rise of the republican machine, the reasons behind the democrats' declining fortunes and the impact of this political imbalance on the average citizen. This is a sort of State-of-the-Union update: encyclopedic in scope but eminently accessible and studded with juicy morsels of Capitol Hill gossip, little-known facts and generally excellent writing. The fact that the Democratic National Committee did not have a national voter database until late 2003 is stunning, and Gitlin claims that a perpetual 'war on terror' is precisely what the conservative cognoscenti want: 'as long as fear is so salient to voters, Democrats will be staggering uphill.' Many of Gitlin's conclusions are not necessarily new, but Gitlin's conclusions and suggestions-often missing from such political landscape surveys-for the liberal movement are impressive. His call for a simple but powerful narrative to match that of the Conservatives merits special attention from the leaders of a party made up of (at least) eight distinct voter groups." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"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

"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

Todd Gitlin is a professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books, including the national bestseller The Sixties, and a contributing writer for Mother Jones. His work has appeared in many publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Nation, the American Prospect, and Harper's. He blogs at TPMcafe.com.

Introduction: The Bulldozer Stays Its Course.

I. EMERGENCY: THE LONG ANTI-SIXTIES.

1. The Conquerors.

2. Centralizing the Apparatus.

3. The Faithful and the Willful.

4. “The Un-Sixties”.

5. Men Riding out of the West on White Horses.

6. Pulpits of Bullies.

II. WILDERNESS: FITS AND STARTS.

7. Parties and Movements: A Brief Excursus on Democratic Dilemmas.

8. Movements vs. Party, 1964-80.

9. Unlikely Steward: Bill Clinton and Liberalism in the Nineties.

III. EMERGENCE: THE TENT AND THE PRINCIPLES.

10. The Party as Movement, 2004 and After: The Deaniacs, the Purple States, and the Netroots.

11. Frames, Demons, and No-Longer-Silent Majorities.

12. Is the Tent Big Enough?

13. Narratives and Values.

14. Enemies, Bogeymen, and the Limits of American Power.

15. The Human Face.

Acknowledgments.

Notes.

Index.