Republican Like Me, by Ken Stern

As contentious and divisive as the 2016 presidential election was, and as heated as even casual conversations about President Trump can be (for or against), you might begin to wonder if Republicans and Democrats can ever get along.  Ken Stern, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal (He was CEO of NPR--surely you don't get much more solidly liberal than that!), spent the year getting to know Republicans from around the country and--guess what?--found that they aren't as bad as CNN and the NY Times led him to believe!

The main thing to note about Ken Stern's book Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right is that it's fun to read.  Stern comes across as a likeable guy who enjoys other people and enjoys life.  Whether he's hunting pigs in south Texas, worshiping with a bunch of enthusiastic college students, exploring a coal town in Appalachia, or checking out a homeless outreach in New York, he writes with good humor and contagious enthusiasm.

In Republican Like Me, Stern demonstrates that by opening one's mind and having actual conversations with people from the other end of the political spectrum, one might find that one's political and ideological opposites might have some decent ideas.  Stern was pleasantly surprised by the activism and commitment to community he found among evangelicals.  He came to see the human costs of environmental policies.  He found that addressing poverty is not as simple as political dichotomies seem to imply.

Stern exemplifies not letting our assumptions destroy our relationships, and taking time to listen to opinions that we might not agree with.  He writes, "If this year has taught me anything, it is that not of us has a monopoly on the right ideas and none of us has a superior claim on values, commitment to our communities, and the desire to make our nation a better place."  As Stern says, we need to get over "our astonishing intolerance of the views of others, the certainty that our tribe is right and the other side is wrong."  Whether you lean left or right, that is a great reminder.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review process!