John Moe, Conservatize Me: How I Tried to Become a Righty with the Help of Richard Nixon, Ann Coulter, Toby Keith, and Beef Jerky

Conservatize Me: How I Tried to Become a Righty with the Help of Richard Nixon, Ann Coulter, Toby Keith, and Beef Jerky

John Moe

Morrow, October 2006, $24.95

ISBN: 0060854014

A self proclaimed leftist, NPR talk-show host John Moe spent nine months limiting himself to known acceptable conservative groups for news, such as the Washington Times, Fox News, Russ Limbaugh, Weekly Standard and National Review; country music stations only, and roving "Krystal Klear" milieus like rodeos and NASCAR. He visited the Reagan and Nixon Presidential Libraries (Nixon's contains his key scandal while Reagan's ignores his, in spite of convictions and confessions with Bush senior pardons). Finally, his objective was to better understand conservative thinking, especially in America's Heartland.

Though anecdotal and often amusing, Mr. Moe concludes there are two types of conservatives in this country. On the one hand he disdains those he met at a college conference, who in his mind are offspring of Machiavelli and Lady MacBeth, as power is everything (consider that war re-elects presidents) or ignore negatives regarding their "heroes". On the other side, Mr. Moe admires Mayor Shawn Larsen of Rexburg, Idaho who is a devoted logical person wanting to make government effective and efficient. He admits being from liberal Seattle, making the trek through the Red states at times feel like Frodo seeking to rid himself of the ring, as the conservative take on movies makes for an overall delightfully funny expos on those who are right.