Crisis Point: Why We Must - and How We Can - Overcome Our Broken Politics in Washington and Across America

by Trent Lott, Tom Daschle, Jon Sternfeld

Overview

Tom Daschle and Trent Lott are two of the most prominent senators of recent time. Both served in their respective parties' leadership positions from the 1990s into the current century, and they have almost sixty years of service between them. Their congressional tenure saw the Reagan tax cuts, a deadlocked Senate, the Clinton impeachment, 9/11, and the Iraq War. Despite the tumultuous times, and despite their very real ideological differences, they have always maintained a positive working relationship, one almost unthinkable in today's hyper-partisan climate.

In their book, Daschle and Lott come together from opposite sides of the aisle to sound an alarm on the current polarization that has made governing all but impossible; never before has the people's faith in government been so dismally low. The senators itemize damaging forces—the permanent campaign, the unprecedented money, the 24/7 news cycle—and offer practical recommendations, pointing the way forward. Most crucially, they recall the American people, especially our leaders, to the principles enshrined in the Constitution, and to the necessity of debate but also the imperative of compromise—which will take leadership, vision, and courage to bring back.

Illustrated with personal stories from their own eminent careers and events cited from deeper in American history, Crisis Point is an invaluable work that comes at a critical juncture. It is a work of conscience, as well as duty, written with passion and eloquence by two men who have dedicated their lives to public service and share the conviction that all is far from lost.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632864611
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	01/19/2016
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott is Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, co-founder of the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, and Senior Counsel at Squire Patton Boggs. Herding Cats is his political memoir.

Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is the founder and CEO of The Daschle Group. He co-founded the Bipartisan Policy Center and serves as Chair of the Center for American Progress Board of Directors. His books include Like No Other Time, on the 107th Congress, and Critical, on the health care crisis.


Jon Sternfeld is a writer and editor living in New York.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Introduction 1

Part I Conflict

Chapter 1 The 228-Year Argument 9

Chapter 2 The Pulling 17

Chapter 3 The Permanent Campaign 25

Chapter 4 Down in the Well 35

Chapter 5 The Media Effect 51

Part II Chemistry

Chapter 6 A Nation of Men and Women 65

Chapter 7 The 50-50 Senate 75

Chapter 8 Roadblocks to Chemistry 83

Chapter 9 Experience and Transparency 91

Part III Leadership

Chapter 10 In Their Own Words 101

Chapter 11 The Leadership Hole 111

Chapter 12 Trent and Tom 121

Chapter 13 The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton 129

Chapter 14 The World at Large 139

Chapter 15 Leader of the Free World 147

Chapter 16 The Center of the Storm 157

Chapter 17 9/11 and Its Aftermath 167

Chapter 18 The Humility and the Audacity 179

Chapter 19 Courage and Memory in the United States Senate 193

Chapter 20 Fear and Loathing in the U.S. Congress 201

Part IV Vision

Chapter 21 Writing the Future 207

Chapter 22 A Bipartisan Answer 213

Chapter 23 Electoral and Campaign Reform 217

Chapter 24 The Money Problem 225

Chapter 25 Congressional Reform 233

Chapter 26 A Call to Service 243

Conclusion: Duty 257

Acknowledgments 261

Notes 262

Index 276

Editorial Reviews

10/12/2015
Lott and Daschle (Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis), two former Senate majority leaders from different parties, pool their combined insights as Washington elder statesmen, to unimpressive effect. They propose to provide a map for escaping a Darwinian political system that has made governing all but impossible. The book is on target when identifying some of the chief factors behind current hyperpartisan dysfunction: an unending campaign season, the corrupting power of money, and the relentless news cycle. In a populist spirit, Lott and Daschle also abhor low voter turnout. They have an admirable vision, but stick to safe, bland themes and comforting examples of past effective leadership. This well-meaning volume overflows with bromides like “freedom is an American value” while minimizing the aggressive lobbying and combativeness that exemplify political life in the nation’s capital. Its calls for public service, collective responsibility, and sacrifice will not halt the vicious pursuit of power or foil the red-toothed political carnivores that both Lott and Daschle know all too well. However sensible and benign, their reflections fail to offer any concrete steps to change the status quo. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"An important contribution to an ongoing debate." —Kirkus Reviews

"Have you lost hope that we can ever lick the hyper-partisanship that has made our politics unbearable and our nation less governable? Pull yourself back from the brink and read this practical, uplifting book by two distinguished former Senate Majority Leaders, one a conservative Republican and the other a liberal Democrat. They don’t agree on all the issues and solutions, and the rest of us won’t either, but they show how rational people of good will can come together to change today’s toxic environment. Trent Lott and Tom Daschle urge public officials and citizens alike to do better. In our own interests, we had better start meeting their challenge." —Larry J. Sabato, UVA Center for Politics director and author of THE KENNEDY HALF-CENTURY

"Trent Lott and Tom Daschle were remarkable Congressional leaders who revered the Constitution and got things done during difficult times. This timely book extends their public service by illustrating how political parties can achieve the greater good—how Congress can again work successfully and regain public confidence and support." —Former Senator Richard Lugar

"There was a time when the U.S. Senate dealt with big issues in a serious way. Trent Lott and Tom Daschle have written a lively description of life and leadership in the U.S. Senate when ‘compromise’ wasn’t a four-letter word and when America’s business got done!" —Former Senator Byron Dorgan

"In negotiating the Bipartisan Balanced Budget Agreement, these two remarkable leaders put aside their partisanship and simply did what they thought was right for the country. Washington needs a lot more leadership like this today. In this book these two former Senate Majority Leaders tell how this can be repeated and why it must." —Erskine Bowles. White House Chief of Staff under President Clinton

From the Publisher

11/01/2015
Lott and Tom Daschle were the respective Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate between 1996 and 2003, years when the Senate and the country experienced such events as the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, the 9/11 attacks, and the Iraq War. In this book, they, with writer and editor Jon Sternfeld, contrast the accomplishments and the tenor of a shared leadership with the polarized atmosphere of today. Lott and Daschle draw lessons from U.S. history and from their own experience to demonstrate that our present gridlock and "poisonous chemistry" is not inevitable. The Senate's "biggest problem," the authors say, is the three-day workweek—air travel has made it possible for Senators to spend most of their time away from Washington, producing difficultly when it comes to building personal relationships such as Daschle and Lott enjoyed. They cite familiar challenges including campaign financing, the 24-hour news cycle, and the decline of party influence, while offering a handful of suggestions, such as restoring a five-day workweek and limiting committee memberships, that they believe are turns in the right direction. VERDICT While readers will find it hard to disagree with the two lawmakers, whether their successors in the U.S. Congress will pay attention is, of course, a different matter. [See Prepub Alert, 7/6/15.]—Robert Nardini, Niagara Falls, NY

Library Journal

2015-09-15
Two former Senate majority leaders contend that American party politics has gone off the rails, and they offer suggestions on how to get back on track. We are nearing presidential election time again, and Lott (Herding Cats: A Life in Politics, 2005) and Daschle (co-author: The U.S. Senate, 2013, etc.) offer a substantive prospectus regarding the current (dysfunctional) state of the political landscape. They address what they characterize as "a crisis of leadership," which "isn't just about inertia; it's about embedded interests." As the authors note, "it's not just that we're rudderless without leaders, flailing about without a plan; it's that the moral compass is missing as well." This is certainly strong, heady stuff coming from one-time leaders of a culture they helped shape. As veteran Senate and Congressional warriors involved on either side of many important and deeply divided legislative debates—the Reagan tax cuts, the impeachment of Bill Clinton, 9/11 and the enabling Patriot Act, which made the Iraq War possible—the authors have much valuable insight and experience to share. They highlight what they call "social chemistry" as a potential catalyst for change within a host of institutional structures. This concept includes presidential outreach—e.g., Bill Clinton's nighttime phone calls or George W. Bush's weekly breakfasts for Congressional leaders—and the once-important but now-shuttered Senate dining room. Such social chemistry fosters dealmaking, and thus compromise-based government, beyond the glare of full-time public scrutiny. Lott and Daschle highlight the extent to which the "permanent campaign" has undermined both legislators' presence and attention to their jobs. "These days," they write, "there is no off season, no break from the money chase or the partisan warfare." They also examine the increasingly low rate of voter turnout. Their shared institutional bond, grounded in a continuing history, is profound. One might hope that their solutions would be commensurate, but they may not go far enough for many readers. An important contribution to an ongoing debate.

Kirkus Reviews