It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump
by Stuart Stevens
View on GoodreadsStuart Stevens — Romney's 2012 chief strategist, lifelong Republican consultant — argues from inside the wreckage that the GOP's stated principles (small government, family values, fiscal responsibility, character) were always rhetorical cover for what the party actually delivered to its base: white racial grievance.
Core ideas
- The "Southern Strategy" wasn't a deviation; it was the load-bearing element disguised by libertarian and religious vocabulary.
- Every consultant of his generation, including Stevens himself, knew this and rationalized it — the mea culpa is part of the argument's power.
- There's no path back through reform of the existing party; the structure rewards what it rewards, and pretending otherwise sustained the lie for decades.
Published2020
Pages256
ISBN9780525658450
ReadJul 2023
