From a dogged political reporter, an investigation into the political education of Mitch McConnell and an argument that this powerful Senator embodies much of this countrys political dysfunction.
Based on interviews with more than seventy-five people who have worked alongside Mitch McConnell or otherwise interacted with him over the course of his career, The Cynic, which will be published as an original ebook, is both a comprehensive biography of one of this countrys most powerful politicians and a damning diagnosis of this country's eroding political will.
Tracing his rise from a pragmatic local official in Kentucky to the leader of the Republican opposition in Washington, the book tracks McConnells transformation from a moderate Republican who supported abortion rights and public employee unions to the embodiment of partisan obstructionism and conservative orthodoxy on Capitol Hill. Driven less by a shift in ideological conviction than by a desire to win elections and stay in power at all costs, McConnells transformation exemplifies the permanent campaign mindset that has come to dominate American government.
From his first race for local office in 1977when the ad crew working on it nicknamed McConnell love-me-love-me for his insecurity and desire to pleaseto his fraught accommodation of the Tea Party, McConnells political career is a story of ideological calcification and a vital mirror for understanding this countrys own political development and what is wrought when politicians serve not at the behest of country, but at the behest of party and personal aggrandizement.
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Review
The best portrait of McConnell" (NationalJournal.com)
As Alec MacGilliss excellent new book on McConnell makes clear, the Kentucky senators top priority has always been not ideology but his own political advancement and survival. (TheAtlantic.com)
While MacGillis writes with the passion of a convert, he isnt some liberal hack whom Republicans can coolly dismiss. He is a thorough and well-trained reporter happily unburdened from the dispassionate constraints of he-said-she-said journalism.In The Cynic, MacGillis constructs his profile around interviews with long-lost friends, colleagues and enemiesmore than 75 of them for this slim volumewho have known the subject since their provincial early days. (The Washington Post)
Not many people have a clear idea of who McConnell is, or how he evolved, or why he does the things he does.This is the story Alec MacGillis tells in his concise, fast-moving ebook about McConnell, The Cynic. Its full of things I hadnt known.He also helps explain how someone without the obvious political gifts of speechmaking or glad-handing has stayed in national office for 30 years and is favored to be there at least six years more. And if youd like even more first-hand evidence of what has happened to the Senate, youll find it hereall in less than two hours reading time. (James Fallows TheAtlantic.com)
MacGillis's book serves as a great reminder of how McConnell became the Senate leader he is today -- and how much every elected official tends to change the more they learn about Washington and their polarized constituents. (TheWashingtonPost.com)
"A fiercely critical biography (entitled, tellingly, 'The Cynic')." (Los Angeles Times)
About the Author
Alec MacGillis is a senior editor at The New Republic magazine in Washington. He previously covered national politics and domestic policy for The Washington Post , and worked as a reporter at The Baltimore Sun and Concord Monitor in New Hampshire, among other papers. A native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, he now resides with his family in Baltimore.
ABC : 1
Number of Words in Auth: 2
Formats : EPUB
Number of Formats : 1
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