The Last Best Hope
A 2009 conservative critique of the Republican Party after the financial crisis, worth reading for its insider's frustration with bailouts, deficits, and how Reagan gets invoked.
What It's About
The Last Best Hope is a 2009 political book by Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida who was still close to the conservative conversation when he wrote it. His central claim is that the party lost its way after 2008: it spent heavily, accepted bailouts, and drifted from the limited-government principles it claimed to defend. He writes for conservatives, but he is just as blunt with Democrats.
The approach mixes argument with history. Scarborough pairs sharp criticism of recent policy with a look back at conservatism's earlier thinking, and he returns often to Ronald Reagan, arguing that admirers have turned him into a slogan rather than studying what he actually did. The tone is direct and combative, closer to a speech or op-ed collection than a policy white paper, and that voice is much of the appeal.
Reading it feels like listening in on a family argument. If you already follow the bailouts, the stimulus fight, and the GOP's search for direction after 2008, the book works as a timely verdict from someone inside the tent. If you come to it cold, expect a lot of assumed context and a steady stream of opinion where you might want the evidence laid out more fully.
Read this if you…
- are a conservative or center-right reader who wants an internal critique of the Republican Party
- followed the 2008 financial crisis and want a contemporary political take on the bailouts
- prefer a blunt, opinionated voice to a neutral survey of the issues
Skip it if you…
- want a balanced account that weighs Democratic arguments with the same care as Republican ones
- are looking for detailed policy analysis or data-driven research on the financial crisis
Key Ideas
- 1
Conservatism should mean limits, not loyalty
Scarborough argues that conservatism is defined by restraint on government spending and power, and that a party which abandons those limits while still waving the flag has stopped being conservative in any meaningful sense. The point is less about any single vote than about whether the movement can tell its principles apart from its team.
- 2
Bailouts and deficits betrayed the movement
He sees the emergency rescues of 2008 and the spending that followed as a break with conservative economics, and he holds Republicans accountable for going along with them. The argument is partly a warning that the same habits would cripple the country's finances if they became normal.
- 3
The housing crash as a Washington-Wall Street story
Scarborough frames the financial meltdown as the product of political and financial elites working in tandem, not as a pure market failure. This framing supports his broader case that both parties relied on easy money and government promises when it suited them.
- 4
Reagan's legacy needs a closer reading
Rather than treating Reagan as a fixed symbol, Scarborough urges conservatives to examine his record in full, including the compromises and pragmatic deals he made. The aim is to use his example as a guide for the present rather than a shield against criticism.
Limitations
The book is tied closely to its moment. Written in 2009, its arguments about the stimulus, the bailouts, and the Obama-era budget are now historical, and some predictions have aged in ways a reader should weigh. Critics on the left see it as a partisan rebuke disguised as reform, and critics on the right may find it too willing to criticize their own leaders. It also offers more diagnosis than detailed, footnoted evidence, so readers wanting rigorous economic or political analysis will need other sources.
Questions Readers Ask
- Is The Last Best Hope still relevant today?
- As a snapshot of the 2009 debates, it is most useful as a historical document. The underlying questions about deficits, party identity, and what conservatism stands for still echo in later Republican arguments, so it can help explain where those debates started, even though its specific policy references are dated.
- Is this a partisan book?
- Yes. Scarborough writes openly as a conservative talking to other conservatives, and he is critical of both parties. Readers who want neutral analysis should treat it as one perspective within a larger conversation, not a balanced overview.
- Published
- 2009
- ISBN
- 9780307463715
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Category
- Business
Book details and cover from Google Books.
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