Had Enough?: A Handbook for Fighting Back - Softcover

Veteran political strategist James Carville has always had a knack for being concise. He is, after all, credited with coining "It's the economy, stupid" while directing the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. And as host of CNN's Crossfire, he favored a combative in-your-face approach that stood in stark contrast to the stereotype of the mushy liberal. In Had Enough, Carville, along with co-author Jeff Nussbaum, takes that economic phrasing and aggressive style to offer a handbook for lefties tired of losing arguments and elections. To point out how fundamentally misguided he believes the GOP to be, Carville goes straight to the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. While Republicans can be credited with providing for the common defense, Carville says, they have failed miserably on all other directives issued by the founding fathers on what government is supposed to do, including promoting the general welfare, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, and securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and posterity. Although the arguments are not remarkably different from those made in a slew of other lefty books (Bush's tax cuts favor the rich, Republicans seek to curtail civil liberties), the book also offers "Had Enough" solutions to pressing issues of public policy that will come in handy for liberals looking to defeat a conservative brother-in-law in a political argument or even hold their own on Crossfire. These solutions always sound eminently reasonable, although that's due in large part to their being contrasted to Carville's interpretation of Bush and company's approach ("Use everything as an excuse to dig, drill, and burn.") Still, Carville and Nussbaum make a cogent, impassioned, and highly entertaining indictment of the Bush administration, which, combined with a smattering of incongruously placed but nonetheless tempting Cajun recipes, makes Had Enough a worthwhile read. --John Moe

James Carville is the best-known and most-loved political consultant in American history. He is also a speaker, talk-show host, actor, and author with six New York Times bestsellers to his credit. Part of a large Southern family, he grew up without a television and loved to listen to the stories his mama told. Mr. Carville lives with his wife, Mary Matalin, and their two daughters in New Orleans.