Independent A look inside a broken White House, outside the party lines

In this blistering but bewildering critique of the two-party system, former White House press secretary Jean-Pierre (Moving Forward) details how her experiences in the Biden administration drove her to leave the Democratic Party and become an independent. Jean-Pierre recounts her growing "disillusionment" over Democrat leaders' "mean-spirited" pressuring of President Biden to abandon his 2024 reelection bid after his disastrous debate with Trump (Jean-Pierre insists that Biden performed poorly because he had a cold). The author maintains that she observed Biden in his duties as "clearheaded... and well-informed," and that his campaign "could have survived the debate setback." Elsewhere, Jean-Pierre depicts her time in the White House as frequently embattled: she confronts "a belligerent press corps" who lob probing questions about Biden's health; combats an influx of videos subtly manipulated, in their sound and speed, "to make Biden appear mentally and physically infirm"; and endures jealous squabbles with colleagues, including an unnamed "key member of the White House team... orchestrating a campaign to push me out." Though Jean-Pierre excoriates Republicans for being "authoritarian," her ire stays firmly fixed on her former party. However, her argument for independent affiliation never quite adds up to the promised "revolutionary act," instead remaining blandly motivational ("When we act independently... we feel empowered"). Readers will be left scratching their heads. (Oct.)

A former Biden press secretary bids farewell to the Democratic Party. "The first Black person, immigrant, and openly queer woman to be a spokesperson for the president of the United States," Jean-Pierre represented Joe Biden, his administration, and, at some remove, the agenda of the president's party. Now, free to speak critically, Jean-Pierre excoriates the leadership of the Democratic Party for fumbling the matter of Biden's mental acuity after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, its halfhearted treatment of Kamala Harris, and, more than anything, "the way it has responded to the Republican assault on our democracy in a shockingly weak manner." Being a Republican is out of the question, she adds, but so is being a Democrat: "The Democrats' blue tent that once felt big enough to hold all the pieces of a Black, queer, immigrant woman like me has collapsed," she writes, adding that "choosing political independence is a revolutionary act." Whether Biden, as Jean-Pierre seems to suggest, could and should have remained the party's candidate is debatable, but her disdain for several named leaders is clear, as is her view that the party failed to connect with its constituency. More usefully, from the point of view of practical politics, Jean-Pierre urges a personal policy that favors utility over purity, which "may mean fighting to protect immigrants side by side with someone who believes in more restrictions on abortions than you do." She also advocates for independents to be able to vote in open primaries while at the same time pointing out the inadvisability of voting for a third party. Jean-Pierre's call for a more engaged citizenry is welcome. Still, given the unlikelihood that enough states will allow for those open primaries to admit independents, some might be tempted to read this as an exercise in self-defeat; for all her longing for a polity "beyond red and blue silos," that's exactly where we are. A heartfelt critique that seems unlikely to land where it's needed most. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.