The Washington Post reviews my latest book:
This election, perhaps more than any that has come before it, offers stark evidence of all that is right with American democracy -- both its power and potential -- as well as what has gone terribly wrong. Three new books -- primers on how to become a citizen activist -- are for anyone who cares about living in a democracy that works.
"Effective activism requires that those who have the heart and passion for it step out of their comfort zone and into the fire," writes Markos Moulitsas Zúniga in "Taking On the System," which includes a step-by-step to-do list, as well as philosophical encouragement. The book celebrates "change agents," as Moulitsas calls them, who are fighting for that most basic democratic principle: the right to speak out in a system that, too often, controls the message.
Moulitsas, founder of the influential political blog Daily Kos, heralds Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, who decided to make a run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 without financial resources or political experience. First she faced a primary no one thought she could win. Then she faced a general election against a strong incumbent. She won both races.
"Shea-Porter's wildly surprising victory -- over two outsized opponents -- should serve as both an inspiration and a valuable primer about overcoming obstacles put in the way of activists who buck the system," writes Moulitsas. Her supporters ignored the party establishment, which wrote off Shea-Porter's campaign as hopeless and offered no backing. Instead, her supporters built a campaign directly from the grass roots, creating low-budget commercials, sending personalized postcards, talking directly to voters, both in person and online. With "innovative tactics and [the] smart use of money," they got Shea-Porter's message out. (My husband, who was involved with her campaign, was not a source for this book.)
Moulitsas's book is a call to join the fray, and it is peppered with examples of people who are managing, against the odds, to be heard. Grass-roots networking is helping long-shot candidates like Shea-Porter get elected. Bloggers are drawing national attention to issues that otherwise might be overlooked, such as the violent racism that erupted in 2006 in the town of Jena, La. And in countries where democracy is literally a life-and-death issue, the Internet offers activists an alternative to official propaganda machines. In 2004 in the Ukraine, for example, cyber-movements helped to expose government wrongdoing and electoral fraud -- and bring about regime change.