The Last Best Hope: Restoring Conservatism and America's Promise

by Joe Scarborough

Book Overview

In this groundbreaking book, Joe Scarborough tells Republican Party bosses what they don't want to hear, explains why Democrats are making matters so much worse, and then shows leaders of both parties the way forward. The Last Best Hope draws on the forgotten genius of conservatism to offer a road map for the movement and the country. Delivering a searing indictment of the political leaders who have led us astray, Scarborough inspires conservatives...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307463699
• ISBN13: 9780307463692
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Crown Forum
• Length: 271 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Joe hits a home run

Joe Scarborough may himself be the last best hope of conservatives. I watch his morning show on MSNBC, the only show I watch on this network. There's a reason NBC is referred to as Obama's pet bird. I also listen to his radio show on WABC in the morning. Joe lays out the mistakes made by conservatives in the last decade in clear and easy to understand lingo, while offering solutions - something my fellow Republicans have somehow forgotten how to do. This book comes at a crucial time for Republicans. If our fellow Republicans follow Joe's sage advice, the 2010 midterms will cause a loud flushing sound to be heard in Washington, and the stranglehold these liberals have on our lives will come to an end.

Example of Seriousness and Candor in Public Discourse

I appreciate how Scarborough maintains decorum while pointing out his criticisms of American government in this book. All too often, political commentators try to establish false dichotomies, straw people, and false choices that perpetuate a stark blue/red or conservative/liberal demographic when really every state is full of purple. The discourse on all sides, whether it's by talk radio or mass media conglomerates, maintains a disingenuous conversation, one where we cannot even talk to each other anymore, where one can be immediately identified as being a member of one camp or the other. In short, the discourse continues along rather violent lines: binarisms of "self" and "other" spewing out from all camps, when really individual Americans each hold to a highly personalized and nuanced notion of the issues and how we ought to govern ourselves. If you agree with my assessment of public discourse in America, then you will likely find this book refreshing. Scarborough points out immediately his own mistakes and shortcomings as a former Congressman as soon as he points out Bush's and Obama's. He reminds us how we cannot gloss over--indeed, we must embrace and engage rigorously--the difficult issues that we face as a nation; and we must be grown-ups about it. That means not clinging to one candidate, politician, or leader blindly, nor adhering mindlessly to dogma or ideology. Holding to this principle of discourse, Scarborough proceeds to assess the current state of affairs. He implicates Bush and Obama for (on the one hand) putting America into this mess and (on the other) making it much worse. His task is to lay out a plan for prudence and restraint in how we adjudicate between good policy and bad, and on the whole, he succeeds. He promises that the text will avoid polemics, which he honors throughout, and proffers a discourse in which Americans may approach each other as fellows in an economy and government gone awry. I only lament that he stuck with the category of "conservative" and argues that most Americans actually align most closely with his qualified and nuanced version of such. If, as he argues, public discourse continues along totalizing and unfair trajectories, then a categorical rejection of systems and labels would likely have supported his cause more forcefully. Nevertheless, responsible and open-minded adults ought to find in this book a good, perhaps excellent, example of how to address failings in even our most revered leaders while trying to steer clear of polemics and immature dialogue. On particular points and historical facts, he remains fair insofar as an interpreter of history can put forth a balanced history, and his math really does alert us to the problems we face (he doesn't try to swindle us with loose numbers games or finagle a cheap shot at Obama or Bush with selective bits of information). I give the book five stars because I believe it is one of a few that approximates a moderate and prudent discussion of contempo

A great read!

I just finished Joe Scarborough's book The Last Best Hope. The phrase that resonated with me was, "I'm a conservative with a libertarian tilt." That sums up the theme of his book nicely and resonates with independent voters such as myself who looking for conservatives with a libertarian tilt to run this country. It's a good read. His advice is applicable to either party. His approach could be the roadmap for a new beginning for the Republican Party. I don't know what Joe's plans are; however, I hope to see more of him in the future. Perhaps he might provide a bit of balance for the Gingridges and Limbaughs of the world (and actually give the Republicans another shot at running things).

Great read no matter what your leanings

I always watch Morning Joe because I like Joe Scarborough's signature seal, and this book came just as I was getting nostalgic for the chatter from the last election. An equally useful read for conservatives looking to put the Bush years behind them and liberals looking to understand the opposition rising quietly behind the Rushs and Newts of the immediate day. And Joe's breezy prose makes this an easy pick-up for political junkies no matter what your political stripes.

At the crossroads in conservatism

There is no mistaking that Conservatism in the United States is in turmoil right now. A few years after there was a sense of triumph and the idea of a permanent Republican majority in Washington, there was a sort of Gotterdammerung, and the structure came crashing down with the loss of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, in addition to a number of state and local positions, to the Democrats. However, the death of the Republican party specifically, and Conservatism generally, has been exaggerated, much in the way the demise of the Democratic party was also overstated in the early 2000s. Joe Scarborough, who as a Congressman during the Gingrich as the Contract for America progressed, made a name for himself by being a solid conservative, offers an interesting perspective of the rise and fall of the ideology and practice over the past few decades. It is interesting that during the divided government of Republican Congress and Democratic Presidency, we had budget surpluses. When the Republicans gained complete control, that was not sustained. Scarborough contends that the Republican party stopped being conservative, and that that was their primary problem. They spent too much, became too adventurous, and too confident of their own abilities to act alone in the country and in the world. As Scarborough said, one can't double the national debt and claim to be the fiscally responsible party. The party needs to be a big tent party again, according to Scarborough, which means it need to have a place for both Cheney and Powell. Everyone quotes Ronald Reagan, he states, and that ideology is a good conservative one, but the specifics of Reagan's policies won't necessarily work today. It is more of an attitude, Scarborough says - Reagan was not someone who emphasized "hate" in the way that some conservative commentators do today. If the Republicans are to survive, Scarborough contends, then they must be more inclusive and become once again true to their conservative roots. This is an interesting feature - Scarborough admires Ronald Reagan, but he does not deify him. Reagan had many great qualities, but Scarborough refuses to engage the revisionist history that removes all flaws from Ronald Reagan. True conservatism much take Reagan warts and all, realizing that there was much success despite the flaws. Scarborough is in some ways an outsider to the current conservative trend. His position on the liberal network MSNBC demonstrates this in some respects; his failure to always adhere to party or ideological talking points also demonstrates this. However, this also makes him a more effective critic, as he is far from being a liberal. In the book, Scarborough also addresses a few topics that also show this - he has criticism for the current Obama administration with their continuation of spending policies that are fiscally suspect (without denying the fiscal irresponsibility of their immediate predecessors, as some other conservat