The Two Americas : Our Current Political Deadlock and How to Break It
- Book Review,
by Stanley B. Greenberg
Amazon.com
Having spent a career closely watching the numbers, veteran Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, who advised Bill Clinton in his 1992 victory, sees a nation entrenched into two opposing ideological camps, neither side getting much done. And so he presents solutions, of course to Democrats but also Republicans if they care to read the book, on how to break the gridlock and solidify power. Greenberg offers a history lesson, showing how for the last 50 years, neither party has had a solid grip on power and, as a result, lacked the mandate to lead. Instead, both fire up their base of supporters and scrap for small electoral groups in order to give them a tiny majority among national office holders. Armed with history and voluminous statistical data, Greenberg identifies the core constituencies of each party and assigns them catchy names in order to make his analysis more entertaining and easier to follow. The Republicans' base includes such groups as the "F-You Old Men," white blue-collar seniors with no college education, while over on the left side, the Democrats are anchored by groups like the "Secular Warriors," people who rarely attend church and don't own guns. Extensive polling took place in three communities that are battlegrounds on the electoral map and all three receive catchy nicknames as well: "Tampa Blue" (working class Florida), "The Heartland" (Iowa farm country), and "Eastside Tech" (the white-collar tech-heavy suburbs east of Seattle). After reading the pulse of these representative voters, Greenberg recommends the GOP offer up a second-generation Reagan campaign, emphasizing hope, independence, and industriousness. For the Democrats, his suggestions include taking classic Democratic themes of opportunity and equality and updating to encompass modern issues like environmental and health care concerns. This book was released in the early stages of the 2004 Democratic primaries and in the early going, the successful candidates seemed to be embracing Greenberg's notions, hoping to unseat a President Bush a second time. --John Moe
From Publishers Weekly
Pollster Greenberg (Middle Class Dreams), who was part of Bill Clinton's victorious "war room" team during the 1992 presidential campaign, is dissatisfied with the country's political split down the middle and has ideas for how to break the Democratic/Republican impasse. He considers the last, embattled presidential election "just the current moment in an era of political deadlock" stretching back to the Eisenhower administration, a half-century in which the two parties have traded power back and forth unable to form a lasting dynasty. The 2004 election, he says, promises to be just as competitive. Analyzing each party's potential, Greenberg breaks down their loyalists into identifiable factions, like "F-You Boys" (Deep Southern white male blue-collar workers who "think President George W. Bush is their guy") and "Super-Educated Women" (Democratic loyalists though their husbands, "Privileged Men," are Republicans), Then Greenberg closely examines three regional blocs that may be up for grabs: he calls them Tampa Blue, Seattle's Eastside Tech and Heartland Iowa. In the second half of the book, he imagines how party leaders might plan to keep or retake the White House. His analysis of the GOP's strategy to present Bush as the carefully scrubbed "Reagan's Son" seems dead-on. Several possible strategies are described for Democrats, but his clear preference is for putting a 21st-century spin on the values and agenda of the Kennedy-Johnson era, with such talking points as universal health care and education, tax reform, even a new "Apollo project" to tackle energy security and global warming. Intricate strategic analysis and close attention to a wavering electorate make this political handbook stand out from the pack. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"This highly original work is packed with relevant information, which Greenberg interprets lucidly and scrupulously, and from which he constructs his strategies for change. Anyone concerned with the prospects for moving from the existing political polarization and stalemate to a better America should read this book."
-Robert Dahl, Sterling Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Yale University, and author of numerous political science books including On Democracy and How Democratic is the American Constitution?
"The defining political fact of our time is the division of America. Stan Greenberg has devoted his career to studying those fault lines and strategizing about how to bridge them. The Two Americas is his master work. Whichever party absorbs his insights will have a master plan."
-George Stephanopoulos
"Written by the nation's most astute political analyst, The Two Americas dissects the U.S. electorate, revealing the human aspirations and historical forces at the root of the current partisan deadlock. Regular Americans speak out, and political parties come alive. Equally important, Greenberg goes beyond analysis to show Democrats the way forward. To recapture momentum and achieve an enduring majority, our party should fight for a '100 Percent America' combining patriotism with opportunity and security for all. This is a perfect formula for 2004 -- and let's hope the Democratic presidential aspirants are listening."
-Theda Skocpol, Professor of Government and Sociology, Harvard University and author of Diminished Democracy
"This is hands down the most important book in American politics in my memory. It is. I can't think of another...well, maybe since The Making of the President, in 1960."
-James Carville
"Memo to the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. IT LAYS OUT THE BEST STRATEGY I'VE SEEN FOR BEATING BUSH. THAT WOULD BE BAD FOR AMERICA. SO PLEASE, PLEASE-IGNORE STANLEY GREENBERG!"
-William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard and co-author of the bestselling The War Over Iraq
"The Two Americas is a serious book about a serious topic at a serious time. I'd much rather Stan Greenberg be writing smart books about politics than giving Democrats smart advice in them."
-Mary Matalin, Republican analyst and Bush White House adviser
Review
"This highly original work is packed with relevant information, which Greenberg interprets lucidly and scrupulously, and from which he constructs his strategies for change. Anyone concerned with the prospects for moving from the existing political polarization and stalemate to a better America should read this book."
-Robert Dahl, Sterling Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Yale University, and author of numerous political science books including On Democracy and How Democratic is the American Constitution?
"The defining political fact of our time is the division of America. Stan Greenberg has devoted his career to studying those fault lines and strategizing about how to bridge them. The Two Americas is his master work. Whichever party absorbs his insights will have a master plan."
-George Stephanopoulos
"Written by the nation's most astute political analyst, The Two Americas dissects the U.S. electorate, revealing the human aspirations and historical forces at the root of the current partisan deadlock. Regular Americans speak out, and political parties come alive. Equally important, Greenberg goes beyond analysis to show Democrats the way forward. To recapture momentum and achieve an enduring majority, our party should fight for a '100 Percent America' combining patriotism with opportunity and security for all. This is a perfect formula for 2004 -- and let's hope the Democratic presidential aspirants are listening."
-Theda Skocpol, Professor of Government and Sociology, Harvard University and author of Diminished Democracy
"This is hands down the most important book in American politics in my memory. It is. I can't think of another...well, maybe since The Making of the President, in 1960."
-James Carville
"Memo to the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. IT LAYS OUT THE BEST STRATEGY I'VE SEEN FOR BEATING BUSH. THAT WOULD BE BAD FOR AMERICA. SO PLEASE, PLEASE-IGNORE STANLEY GREENBERG!"
-William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard and co-author of the bestselling The War Over Iraq
"The Two Americas is a serious book about a serious topic at a serious time. I'd much rather Stan Greenberg be writing smart books about politics than giving Democrats smart advice in them."
-Mary Matalin, Republican analyst and Bush White House adviser
Book Description
The 2000 presidential left the world standing still, but it was no fluke. America is divided right down the middle - the product of a half-century, unique in our country's history, of inconclusive, increasingly heated partisan battle. Tantalizingly close to victory, each party inflames and mobilizes its most loyal supporters and battles to gain even a small edge with some contested groups. Politics has become culture war - a fight about values, faith, the family, how people should live their lives. The result: partisans are more partisan, politics more polarized, America more divided.
The Two Americas: Our Current Political Deadlock and How to Break It tells the history of each party's failed efforts to dominate the era's politics and ideas, radically changing the political landscape. The book provides an in-depth guide to the new groups at the center of our politics. Internationally renowned political strategist and pollster Stanley Greenberg puts the reader in the room with the strategists and politicians and shows how each party can win, even shatter the impasse.
The Two Americas is a political primer and strategic playbook for this unique era - essential reading for any armchair political strategist or engaged citizen eager to understand our future politics.
About the Author
Stanley B. Greenberg is CEO of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. He has served as advisor and pollster to President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröeder and Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. He was key to the war room team that last defeated President Bush and is also the author of Middle Class Dreams.
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