Review: On the Stump in America
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 30, 2010
Abraham Lincoln may have made the stump speech famous, but it's likely he did it without campaign staff and speech writers. The main character in Stumbling Forward, Alex Hogan, would have trouble finding the toilet without professional help. American politics has changed since the old days. TV, Radio, and a Pepsodent smile have made any(thing)one electable.Author Christopher Truscott is an outstanding writer. As a thriller author myself, I am always on the lookout for a new writer who provides a good story, well-developed characters, and a memorable ride through the pages. Truscott does it in spades and pulls the reader along with him on the journey, each page telling an almost unbelievable story of political ineptness, uncaring "pick me, pick me" attitude, and the hundreds, thousands, nay millions of dollars that are spent in pursuit of . . . what?Perhaps most telling (since Truscott admits in the closing narrative to being an occasional campaign manager himself) is the fact that as I finish this book, I am not quite certain if the author is a republican or democrat.  He does not use Stumbling Forward to further a political agenda, philosophical posture, or "save the world" message. He equally describes the best arguments for Left and Right. In fact he skewers pinheads and patriots equally, (choice is yours) without apparent remorse, yet he does so with great humor, absent vitriol. Perhaps that comes from his background as a journalist. A REAL journalist. You remember, the kind that used to tell the story supported by facts and not by ideology.Stumbling Forward is actually an indictment of the American political system (not democracy, but politics) as it is played out by both parties. Some outstanding, honorable people surface in the pages of journal-like narrative, but for the most part, partisan efforts outweigh policy or for that matter, perspective.This novel should be required reading for college freshmen taking Political Science. I know that in my PolySci courses, no one ever mentioned that putting a fool in office - - a fool with the correct party label - - was preferable to electing someone who might commit to the people and the nation s/he is elected to serve.Written with the knowledge only an insider can obtain, Truscott takes no prisoners, yet he does it in such a way as to soften the blow. We like these people, even the fools. God help us if we actually have "Alex Hogans" in Congress, but I believe that we do, on both sides of the aisle.Well done, Mr. Truscott.  I look forward to the next edition of the Great American Game. I only hope that your fictional campaign staffers find someone worthy of their effort.Gordon Ryan, Author