If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote, They'd Have Given Us Candidates

Liberal populist Jim Hightower has a knack for naming books; before If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote... came There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos. Even the chapter titles of the current volume reveal Hightower's way with words as well as they underscore his themes: "Some Say We Need a Third Party, I Wish We Had a Second One" and "Plutocracy Is Not Government by a Far-Off Planet." Hightower speaks for angry, disaffected Americans who view both Democrats and Republicans as sleazy money-grubbers who do the bidding of wealthy multinational corporations. He is one of the sharpest voices on the Left, and also a very funny one. Even right-wingers will find themselves laughing at some of his jokes, and the Pat Buchanan set may see a few points of agreement. Ultimately, though, If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote... isn't a book for conservatives, but for liberals who feel that not even the Democratic Party can represent them in the era of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Hightower's enthusiasm is contagious: "Hey, let's gut it up, decamp from Washington, put our resources in the countryside, slug the corporate bastards right in the snout, and get it on with a grassroots politics that gives regular folks a reason to be excited and get involved." Readers already inclined toward these views will be eager to join Hightower's crusade by the time they finish his energetic book. --John J. Miller