I liked Bradley, and think he's astute, intelligent, and dedicated to improvements in American society. He presents many good and reasoned ideas to accomplish his vision, although I found many others overly hopeful and idealized vs. practical and readily achievable. And just as his speeches and public appearances failed to captivate the public during his failed bid for the presidential nomination in 2000, his writing isn't all that exciting either, and I found my mind drifting at times. Also, while some have billed this book as non-partisan, the bulk of his criticism is directed at the Republican Party, particularly the Bush Administration and the GOP of today. So if you're a die-hard party loyalist, you may have trouble separating from the criticism and fail to see the quality of his arguments and logic of his reasoning. But you may end up gloating about his failed theory that the Republican election losses in 2006 could be the beginning of things to come following an unpopular Bush Administration. Certainly, the election of 2010 proved that a false prediction. But after seeing so many books recently about how Bush should be prosecuted as a war criminal, or how Obama is an America hating communist, it's good to see a book by a politician, current or past, who actually has ideas and a plan and doesn't rely on mind-numbing party ideology. ( )

Like all political writing, I am always afraid the lessons of this book has a short shelf life.

I admired and supported Bradley in 2000, chiefly because of his common sense and willingness to propose big ideas. This book offers proposals rooted in center-left pragmatism to cope with many of the big problems of our time: the budget deficit, health care, education, the Iraq War and Bush foreign policy, and the current political system.

A bit wonky at times, but still, Bradley's voice remains sensible, and tries (often unsuccessfully) to get past his anger at the current administration to offer a balanced program to deal with the most important problems of our time. ( )