A unique vantage point into our unconscious hopes and fears about the Iraq war, the environment, religion, and family values There have been books on dreams and books on political psychology, but never anything combining the two. And yet dream researchers have established that the frequency and intensity that a person dreams of something indicates its importance in his or her waking life, so dreams would seem to offer a key to the psychological origins of people's political passions. Building on sixteen years of research involving thousands of dream reports, Kelly Bulkeley reveals the deepest unconscious roots of the American political landscape, examining in particular detail the dreaming tendencies of conservatives and liberals. The book centers on ten people of different political perspectives--a dreamers' focus group--who kept yearlong sleep and dream journals. The dreaming and waking stories of these ordinary Americans (among them a cancer survivor, a lesbian horse rancher, a former Catholic priest, a young waitress engaged to be married, and a soldier preparing for his third tour to Iraq) offer surprising and thought-provoking insights into the hopes, fears, and ideals that motivate their political attitudes. A Quiz to Test Your Political Psyche: 1) Do you suffer frequent nights of insomnia? If yes, you're probably a liberal: poor sleepers are very likely to be strongly anti-Bush. 2) Are most of your dreams about regular, normal activities in waking life? If yes, you're probably a conservative: conservatives tend to have fewer bizarre/otherworldly dreams. 3) Do you have nightmares about the war in Iraq or terrorism? If yes, you're more likely tobe liberal: liberals have more frightening dreams about military aggression. 4) Do you dream frequently of family members? If yes, you're likely be conservative: family values themes appear more often in conservatives' dreams. 5) Do you frequently dream of sexual activities? If yes, you're probably a liberal or a conservative man: conservative women report the fewest sexual dreams. 6) Do you experience frequent nightmares about your job? If yes, welcome to the American work force Liberals and conservatives both have lots of bad dreams about their jobs.