It's tough to review this book as there is a good deal for me to dislike and like about it.



The bad: It's incredibly biased. It's page after page of Democratic election malfeasance, as if Republicans are angels, forever stymied by the corrupt dems. He goes on a tangent at one point and discusses the Florida 2000 debacle, dismising liberal complaints about what happened and instead brings up cases he argues show that Bush actually won by a larger margin were it not for dem electioneering (and alo

It's tough to review this book as there is a good deal for me to dislike and like about it.



The bad: It's incredibly biased. It's page after page of Democratic election malfeasance, as if Republicans are angels, forever stymied by the corrupt dems. He goes on a tangent at one point and discusses the Florida 2000 debacle, dismising liberal complaints about what happened and instead brings up cases he argues show that Bush actually won by a larger margin were it not for dem electioneering (and along the way, he reveals his biases, by praising Republicans for their commitment to law and order in elections and then critizing dems for insisting that overseas ballots from US Troops be held to the same standard of authenticity). He also dismisses concerns of e-voting (Diebold, etc.) as some sort of crazy liberal conspiracy.



The good: If one can overlook the biases in the book, there is some good that can be found. He starts off well enough by pointing out a fudamental philosophical difference between dems and repubs as to voting; dems prefer easy access to the system so as to maximize the number of voters while repubs focus on rules, regulations, and standards so as to maintain the integrity of the process. THe author's overall message is sound: pardon the language, but the American voting system is a fucking joke. It's a haphazard, patchwork system with very little in the way of consistency or standards. THis makes voter fraud easy to pull off and he offers plenty examples of folks jimmying the system to their benefit. HE also highlights the argument that going to a polling place and voting is a venerable civic duty that is being destroyed by easily-abused absentee voting and voter registration programs that don't actually bring new voters into the system. It's a strong argument.



So, it's worth a read if you can overlook the biases. The American voting system needs to change, and the author offers up plenty of evidence as to why.