Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America » (Revised)

First with his performances on Minnesota Public Radio's Prairie Home Companion and later in his books, Garrison Keillor has become a symbol of the small-town Midwest -- its absurdities, its stoutness, and its warmth. His popular, funny stories set in Lake Wobegon manage to evoke nostalgia for a town that never existed.

The radio storyteller speaks his partisan piece in tender prose that will bring a tear to the eye of those of his fans (and perhaps a larger audience) who feel betrayed by their government. "Something has gone wrong with the Republican Party," Keillor writes. "Once, it was the party of pragmatic Main Street businessmen in steel-rimmed spectacles who decried profligacy and waste, were devoted to their communities, and supported the sort of prosperity that raises all ships." Now, he writes, "it's the No. 1 reason why the rest of the world thinks we're deaf, dumb, and dangerous." Keillor reclaims and brandishes the banner of liberalism—"the politics of kindness"—for Americans wondering what they can do to help make the nation a better, safer place for everyone. The book is not indexed. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Washington Post - Ted Van Dyk

Garrison Keillor's Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts From the Heart of America is a graceful, loving celebration of the old-time Minnesota liberalism of the heart that is so sorely missed in today's politics. His book is dedicated, appropriately, "to all of the good Democratic-Farmer Laborites of Minnesota."

Homegrown Democrat reads like a personal letter from an incorrigibly idealistic old friend. It is filled with personal stories, observations on people and events and unquenchable hopefulness.

An Interview with Garrison Keillor

Barnes & Noble.com: What made you want to write this book?

Garrison Keillor: Because nobody else was writing, that I could see, a simple, positive exposition of basic Democratic values. I also wanted to discuss why a Democrat (me) is a Democrat. It's not a rhetorical book but a story told from personal experience.

I didn't become a Democrat because I was angry or wanted to run other people's lives -- I simply felt that Democrats represented the ideal of the common good and of basic decency that underlies any good community. Americans are generous people -- we don't walk past suffering without trying to help, we don't throw sick people into a ditch, we aren't callous about suicide or psychotic behavior -- and that generosity of spirit is expressed in the ideals of the Democratic party. In my humble experience.

B&N.com: You've written several books. How was this book different from your other works?

GK: It's much shorter. You could read this book in one sitting.

B&N.com: Did you develop any of the material on your popular radio show, Prairie Home Companion?

GK: No, I don't do politics as such on the radio show. It's all about Lake Wobegon, where there are plenty of Republicans, and about Guy Noir the radio private eye, who is libertarian, and the cowboys Dusty and Lefty, who are anarchists.

B&N.com: Why are you a Democrat?

GK: Because I'm a child of the public schools and of the University of Minnesota. Because the Democratic Party has always stood up to bullies and fought for the America we enjoy today, in which men and women and people of all races and religions mingle freely and tolerantly and enjoy something like equal opportunity.

B&N.com: How exactly did your upbringing in Minnesota influence you politically?

GK: Minnesota has a greater sense of community, maybe because it gets so darn cold here. Any winter morning, you may need your neighbor to help you start your car, so it behooves you to be decent to them. But really, my politics comes from my parents and their generation, which went through the Depression and had a heightened sense of compassion as a result. And, of course, the gospel of Jesus Christ, which commends the meek and the peacemakers and commands us to love our neighbors.

B&N.com: Your many fans know you as one of America's greatest humorists. What role does humor play in your book?

GK: You couldn't be a Democrat without having a sense of humor. We are a fractious, ragtag party, loath to exercise discipline. You come to a meeting of Democrats, all of us anxious to do battle and drive the Republican fat-cat moneylenders from the temple of power, and somebody raises their hand and complains that we haven't tried hard enough to include dyslexic lesbians in the meeting and also that there are more men sitting near the windows than women. This sort of thing drives me nuts. So if it weren't for having a sense of humor, I'd be a Republican.

B&N.com: What is your chief criticism of Republicans and the Bush administration?

GK: Republicans are out to kill the country I love, and the Bush administration is an unmitigated disaster. Other than that, nothing.

B&N.com: You also criticize some Democrats. What are some of your criticisms?

GK: We have a gift for the trivial and for self-righteous piffle, and we are intolerant. We can easily become too narrow, and that's fatal in politics. A party has to stand for clear principles, but it can't afford to have 17 different litmus tests for membership. There has to be room in the Democratic party for people who are pro-life, who want to be able to carry concealed weapons, and who are opposed to same-sex marriage. Otherwise, we're not a party, we're a private club.

B&N.com: Your last chapter, entitled "9/11," excoriates the Bush Administration's handling of homeland security. What exactly is your criticism?

GK: On September 12, 2001, this country was united as seldom before in our history. The Republicans were in power and had an opportunity to move forward with the full support of the American people, but instead they played politics with homeland security, and then with this misbegotten war in Iraq, and they managed to turn most of the free world against us. America has never been so despised. A terrible fall from grace, and there's no end in sight. The torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib was the last straw for some of us. Sickening.

B&N.com: Do you have any desire to be more directly involved with politics, perhaps even as a candidate or actively campaigning for other candidates?

GK: I am fond of the democratic process -- all the passion and color and the speechifying and the rank and file working hard in the trenches, the folks in funny hats, the buttons, the flags and bumper stickers -- and I love being around it and being a slight part of it, but deep down I'm a writer, and writers are observers. The DFL (Democratic Farm Laborites) party in Minnesota is roaring back to life, after the tragic loss of Senator Paul Wellstone two years ago, and it's exciting to see young talent rise and new stars come forward, people like Amy Klobuchar and Matt Entenza and Patty Wetterling and many others. They're the future, and I'm just an old guy with big eyebrows who remembers hearing Hubert Humphrey speak to farmers off the back of a haywagon. A codger, in other words. I'm good for providing a little color but too old for the rigors of the political fight. It takes toughness, and I'm a natural-born coward.

B&N.com: What will be your next book?

GK: A little novel about Lake Wobegon and tomatoes.