Details

Subject(s)

• Porter, Katherine (Katherine M.) [Browse]
• United States Congress House—Biography [Browse]
• Political culture—United States [Browse]
• Women legislators—United States—Biography [Browse]
• Women legislators—California—Biography [Browse]
• United States—Politics and government—2017-2021 [Browse]
• United States—Politics and government—2021- [Browse]

Library of Congress genre(s)

• Autobiographies [Browse]

Summary note

"An honest, inspiring, and laugh-out-loud funny memoir about re-energizing our politics and standing up to corporate America-while carting three kids around in a minivan. Never having run for office before, Katie Porter charted a new path in 2018 when she was elected to Congress as a Democrat in historically conservative Orange County, California. Underestimated as a single mom and chided for her progressive values, Katie defied expectations. Then, using her signature whiteboard, she began to take CEOs and corrupt government officials to task in Congressional hearings. The videos went viral, introducing Americans to her no-bullshit style, and making her a coveted guest on cable news and late-night television. I SWEAR: Politics Is Messier Than My Minivan is a witty, down-to-earth exploration of what it's really like to serve in Congress, particularly as a single mom. Katie offers Americans a clear picture of what their elected leaders are doing-and how they're doing it-exposing the gaps between politicians' press conferences and real people's lives. Katie reveals how her challenges as an Iowa farmgirl diverted her to the Ivy League and how she came to see herself as a Californian, teaching law and raising three kids in Orange County. She shares why she made the jump from academia to politics and how she quickly mastered the art of making CEOs and cabinet members squirm when they bluff and bloviate instead of doing the job for America. With the same clarity she demonstrates in Congressional hearings, Katie makes the case for consumer protection, corporate accountability, and anti-corruption reforms. She pulls back the curtain on the political messaging machine, campaign fundraising, and Congress' traditions, showing that the way things have always worked, in fact, does not work for a Congressperson without someone at home to do the shopping and take care of the kids. Along the way, she provides whiteboard lessons on where your campaign donations go, how to fight the corporations that cheat you, and how to conduct her trademark robust oversight. Full of candid and inspiring stories-from how Katie lent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a pair of sneakers during the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, to her kids' lightly illegal campaign hijinks-this is a book by an exhausted, committed parent who just doesn't have the time for nonsense in her house or in the House of Representatives"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

• Not on the ballot
• Positive campaign
• Mistakes
• Katie's guide to consumer protection
• 218
• Flip-flops
• How to whiteboard anyone about anything
• One more word
• Twelve years old
• Katie-isms (and when to use them)
• Running shoes
• Hammer and nails
• Katie and the chipmunks
• Spam, not scam
• Show me the money
• Fresh start
• Personal funds
• Bought off
• Places I've lived
• Unpacking
• Honest stink
• Talking points
• Jobs I want after Congress
• Correct the rumors
• Ground support
• Find your supervolunteer power
• Not good enough
• An Orange County family
• The work
• How to contact your congressperson
• On calculators and cookies
• Close.

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ISBN

• 9780593443989 (hardcover)
• 0593443985 (hardcover)

LCCN

2022052257

OCLC

1353818243

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