Let’s Paint This Town Purple

One night on Twitter, comedian Michael Ian Black invites political pundit Meghan McCain on a month long excursion around America to discuss politics with fellow Americans. He is a liberal; she is the daughter of one of the most famous Republicans today.

There is a lot of “what did we get ourselves into…” throughout America, You Sexy Bitch and their mission statement wasn’t clearly defined. Yes, the talked to people throughout America about politics but the mostly drank a lot and saw tourist attractions. The focused mostly on the Southern states (although the did visit Detroit and Cincinnati as well as taking Michael back to his home in Connecticut) so the balance between Red and Blue states felt a little lopsided. How could you skip Chicago (where Obama is from) or even Iowa and New Hampshire (where key primaries are held?) This book was published in 2012 and the events take place during the previous summer. They mention Mitt Romney a few times in regards to his front runner status for the Republican nomination and they discuss Obamacare at length but in the world of politics reading something three years later is like a lifetime. Besides the ongoing debates over Obamacare and gun control a lot has changed since Michael and Meghan’s road-trip. Romney lost the general election, gay marriage was legalized and more states have moved to legalize marijuana. In short, <America, you sexy bitch felt dated.

Meghan McCain is our Republican narrator. However, I identified with her more than Michael. She is pro gay marriage, pro guns, anti-abstinence only education, she wants less taxes and she wants to legalize marijuana (so you can tax the hell out of that and not us) like I am. Our biggest difference in opinion is Meghan is pro-life which perhaps why she identifies as a “progressive Republican” and I identify as a Democrat. However, my husband has nearly identical beliefs and regards HIMSELF as a Republican so perhaps we’re all Libertarians in the long run.

Michael Ian Black is our “liberal” narrator (they rarely use the word Democrat) who is an actor raised by a lesbian mother. Michael is a married father of two who, besides his personal belief system, has no strong ties to the Democratic party. While I’m sure his persona was a large part of this book being published it felt like a let down to not have a well known Democrat on the RV. Though the only political personas I could think of (outside of an actual politian) were Chelsea Clinton and Rachel Maddow who probably had better things to do.

All in all it’s a buddy road trip book that has a slight political agenda of We’re in this together whether we agree on things or not. However, I don’t reccomend this to someone who wants an up to date view of today’s political landscape. Perhaps they should make this an annual project?

2.5 Stars, rounded up because I love the I love the… series.