BE THE WEIGHT BEHIND THE SPEAR

McConkey, a Republican congressional candidate, presents his vision for American renewal in this nonfiction work.

“We are failing tomorrow’s future leaders,” the author declares in the opening lines to this debut book. Despite this ominous assertion, the author is generally positive in his faith in the American people and in the efficacy of his proposed solutions. The book’s central “blueprint” embodies the titular maxim to “be the weight behind the spear,” a practice McConkey hopes that Americans “can and should do to help our country be a better place.” Per the analogy, a spear is “just a useless, pointy stick without the training, teamwork, and ‘weight’ behind it.” A renewed emphasis on “family values, integrity, leadership, and accountability,” the author suggests, offers the promise of a new dynamism to help propel the American spear into the future. According to the author, an emergency physician and current commander of the 459th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, an energized American public offers citizens a better livelihood and is essential to the country’s geopolitical competition against “cohesive and determined” rivals in Russia and China. On its surface, the book offers a nonpartisan appeal to American unity, with no recent presidential candidate or political party referred to by name. It is, however, a deeply political book, especially given the author’s current campaign as a Republican candidate for a North Carolina congressional seat. Most of the book’s stances echo conservative talking points regarding issues such as securing the southern border and opposition to hypothetical Covid-19 vaccine mandates. One chapter-length critique of socialism focuses on government overreach by “Bernie” and “Elizabeth” (not-so-thinly veiled references to Democratic Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren). Eschewing the firebrand rhetoric and conspiracy-laden fearmongering of right-wing populists, the book instead reflects a quaint brand of conservatism reminiscent of the Reagan era in is patriotic view of America’s history and future. While some liberal readers may welcome this appeal as a more level-headed approach, many will still be irked by the book’s failure to engage with cultural issues, from abortion and gender-affirming care to systemic racism and inequality.

An optimistic, if not particularly novel, conservative assessment of contemporary America.