Why I’m a Democrat is a book about politics that isn’t too political. To reveal the heart of the party through the ties that bind its members, editor Susan Mulcahy has compiled a dazzling array of answers to the title question in the form of interviews, essays, emails, lists, and artwork. The result is a lively—even slightly voyeuristic—glimpse at what makes members of the party, from all across the country and from all walks of life, tick.

Nora Ephron · Frank McCourt · Irma Thomas · Dominick Dunne · Isaac Mizrahi · Tama Janowitz · Melissa Etheridge · Roz Chast · Craig Lesley · Jonathan Franzen · Frans de Waal · Maira Kalman · James Brady · Olympia Vernon · Paul Weitz · William Wegman · Seymour Chwast · James Naughton · Min Jin Lee and many others, including farmers, scientists, CEOs, union workers, former Republicans, and a Philly cheesesteak maker.

Political parties can make you cry, laugh, rant, rave, scream bloody murder, or stand up and cheer. Readers will find Democrats who do all that and more in this honest and entertaining portrait of the Democratic Party. Avoiding the usual suspects, Why I’m a Democrat serves up a wild assortment of real Democrats speaking plainly about their party, their aspirations, and themselves.

Susan Mulcahy, a writer, editor, and consultant based in Brooklyn, New York, is the author of My Lips Are Sealed: Confessions of a Gossip Columnist and Drawing Fashion: The Art of Kenneth Paul Block. She is the former editor of the New York Post’s Page Six and a former vice president of Starwave, the early web content company.
 
 
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Beau Friedlander (for PoliPointPress)
JULY 2008 PUBLICATION
(t) 718.576.2573
(e) simnyc@rcn.com

“The Republicans tell you that they are great, in advance of doing the most horrible things in the world. Democrats say, ‘Here is what I will try to do—the right thing, the good thing’.”
—Isaac Mizrahi

WHY I’M A DEMOCRAT
Edited by SUSAN MULCAHY Foreword by DAVID BROCK

With America eating and breathing politics as the 2008 general elections approach, Why I’m a Democrat is a book about politics that isn’t too political, revealing the heart and soul of the party through the ties that bind its members. Editor Susan Mulcahy has compiled a dazzling array of answers here—in the form of interviews, essays, emails, lists, and art work—to create an engaging, and ever so slightly voyeuristic, look at what makes Democrats from all walks of life tick.

Nora Ephron • Tony Bennett • Frank McCourt • Irma Thomas • Dominick Dunne • Melissa Etheridge • Roz Chast • Jonathan Franzen • James Brady • Olympia Vernon • William Wegman • Tama Janowitz • Min Jin Lee and many others including a farmer, Philly cheese steak cook, scientists, union workers, an actor, rock star, soldier, and CEOs.

Political parties can make you cry, laugh, rant, rave, scream bloody murder, or stand up and cheer. Readers will find all that—and more in this honest and entertaining portrait of the Democratic Party that avoids the usual suspects, serving up a wild assortment of real Democrats speaking plainly about their party, their aspirations, and themselves.

About the editor
Susan Mulcahy is the former editor of the New York Post’s Page Six. Her work has appeared in Vanity Fair, the New York Times, O Magazine among many others. She is the author of My Lips are Sealed: Confessions of a Gossip Columnist and Drawing Fashion: The Art of Kenneth Paul Block.

Democrats speak:
“I came across a bumper sticker once that said, “We all do better when we’re all doing better.” That sums it all up for me. It’s the idea that humanity is at it’s best when we look out for each other, even for people we never met and probably never will meet.”
—Hannah Sessions

“What our forebears created was genius and the Democrats know that.”
—Tony Bennett

“The Democratic Party has said time and again, in words and actions, that ‘America doesn’t have a person to waste’.”
—Andrew Tobias

“Why I am a Democrat? In a word: The Republicans.”
—Norman Solomon

“Being a part of the Democratic Party means living up to the preamble of the Constitution, which starts with ‘We the People’.”
—Elliot Anderson

ABOUT THE BOOK:
July release. Paperback, $14.95, 344 pages, index, ISBN 978-0-9794822-3-6