The Red and the Blue

The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism

By: Steve Kornacki

Narrated by: Steve Kornacki, Ron Butler

From MSNBC correspondent Steve Kornacki, a lively and sweeping history of the 1990s - one that brings critical new understanding to our current political landscape.

In The Red and the Blue, cable news star and acclaimed journalist Steve Kornacki follows the twin paths of Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, two larger-than-life politicians who exploited the weakened structure of their respective parties to attain the highest offices. For Clinton, that meant contorting himself around the various factions of the Democratic party to win the presidency. Gingrich employed a scorched-earth strategy to upend the permanent Republican minority in the House, making him speaker.

The Clinton/Gingrich battles were bare-knuckled brawls that brought about massive policy shifts and high-stakes showdowns - their collisions had far-reaching political consequences. But the ’90s were not just about them. Kornacki writes about Mario Cuomo’s stubborn presence around Clinton’s 1992 campaign; Hillary Clinton’s star turn during the 1998 midterms, seeding the idea for her own candidacy; Ross Perot’s wild run in 1992 that inspired him to launch the Reform Party, giving Donald Trump his first taste of electoral politics in 1999; and many others.

With novelistic prose and a clear sense of history, Steve Kornacki masterfully weaves together the various elements of this rambunctious and hugely impactful era in American history, whose effects set the stage for our current political landscape.

©2018 Steve Kornacki (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

How Politics Became a Sport

America was very divided about whether to enter World War II, so much that President Roosevelt didn’t dare act on his own impulse to even give too much direct support to Britain during her direst hours. However, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Germany quickly after that declared war on the US, everything changed. Even after the war ended, the rivalry between the USSR and then the communist east Europe and China kept America focused and relatively united. Certainly there were major differences, but at the same time, there was a commitment to dialogue and compromise that lasted until the 90’s. Even during the impeachment of President Nixon, while there were some diehard Republicans who swore to support him to the end, he resigned because it was clear that a significant number in his party were going to vote to convict him. 

How did we get from there to where we are now, where American has become so divided between “Red” and “Blue” and the word “compromise” applied to a politician becomes a political death sentence? The division has become tribal, reminding one more of sports rivalries than what politics used to be. The party is for whatever is best for the party, even if that harms the country or drives the wedge between the sides even deeper. Now that we don’t have such a clear cold war enemy, the enemy is the other party. 

Steve Kornacki points to the 1990s rivalry between Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich as the point where the wedge really starts driving the two sides apart. He does point back to some earlier events including the Nixon impeachment, the failure of the Carter presidency, and George H. W. Bush’s backtracking on his “read my lips” pledge. And, he doesn’t put all the blame on Clinton and Gingrich. Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan, Jesse Jackson, and Hillary Clinton also have supporting roles. 

But, it was “Slick Willie” Bill Clinton who had an even more advanced Teflon coating than President Reagan and steamroller Newt Gingrich who really stole the show. For Gingrich, winning became the only thing and he was willing to use tactics that party elders had previously considered anathema. For Clinton, his ability to adapt and to morph his party into more of a centrist party, as well as his skill at talking himself out of any corner that he or others had painted himself into allowed him to win the presidency twice, even with multiple scandals always biting at his heels. 

And, there was Ross Perot’s Reform Party that also threw a wrench into the system at this critical time. Interestingly after Perot failed at running himself, Donald Trump toyed with the idea of running under the Reform Party ticket in 2000 but eventually backed out. In a New York Times article Trump writes, “The Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. [David] Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. [Lenora] Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep.”

Then there was the close 2000 election that had the entire presidency hanging on a few precincts in Florida that was also hobbled by a flawed balloting system and where we learned what “hanging chads” were. Ironically, it is also the first time where red was applied to Republicans and blue to Democrats by all the major news organizations. Prior to that, there had been no color consistency. 

And, not only the color scheme has stuck with us down to today. Politics has become more of a sport, more of a contest. In sports and contests, the object is not what is best for both sides. It is to win. Unity, mutual benefit, the greater good--these are no longer a part of the discussion. It’s simply winning. In sports, that is a good thing. In politics, it is not. 

This is not a scholarly treatise and it doesn’t spend much time on other factors (the collapse of the USSR and the eastern bloc, the internet, etc.) that also have led us to where we are now. His focus is on how Clinton and Gingrich both undertook different political revolutions and how these have changed America and grown further into the monstrous problems we face today. And to that end, Kornacki has done very well indeed. 

Outstanding!

I loved it! An even-handed and balanced look back at our modern political history and how we got to this train wreck we have today.

A must read!! Fantastic

I loved this book. It is extremely well written and kept me fascinated from the first second to the last. The details and insight offered provide such a vivid picture of the times and provides a background to our current political culture. I highly recommend it!!

Political History done well

the author does a fine job portraying events that are relevant to the case at hand, while also showing a complete picture of the political landscape of the 90's. I learned a lot about a time I grew up in.

I enjoyed it.

I lived through the time period covered but had forgotten or didn't know the back story on many of these events. Very relative to what’s going on now. I highly recommend this book

interesting argument

good read
narrator's efforts to do accents become annoying
Book is interesting, well argued, worth a listen if interested in topic

clarifies memories

I remember a lot of the events in this book, but the close examination of then helps to see where the political climate of today originated. There is much to ponder.

Fascinating stuff that informs our current climate

Democrats and Republicans have not always despised each other. There was a time when there was more universal collaboration and cross-party compromise. The checks and balances our system was based on worked more effectively because it was branch vs. branch, not merely party vs. party. Though there are certainly several fraught political times in our country's history, the past 25 -30 years have brought about a very unhealthy climate. This book chronicles in great detail the birth and development of modern political tribalism going back to Newt Gingrich's House Republicans versus Bill Clinton and the Democrats.

The Red and The Blue is an unbiased account of the political 90s and calls out the issues in each party. Required reading if you want to know how we got to this mess we are in today. I found this audiobook fascinating and I hope you give it a listen.

Great Read

An intensely detailed analysis of recent political history that sheds light on why America is.

Took me for ever, and was well worth it

Listed to this bad boy over the course of a month. Loved it. As a political junky this thing was water in the desert. Very balanced, insightful, and wonderful.