Reason to Believe: A Keen Assessment of Who We Are and an Inspiring Vision of What We Could Be [Paperback]

Mario Cuomo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 1996

A former Governor of New York discusses his opposition to the death penalty and his controversial stand on abortion, and offers solutions he believes will expose the dangers of current policies and provide an international and domestic vision for the future. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Former New York Governor Cuomo offers a liberal rebuttal of the Contract with America, offering his own solutions to the nation's current ills.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Chartock (political science, SUNY-New Paltz) hosted a radio show for 12 years on which he interviewed New York's thenGovernor Mario Cuomo once a week discussing whatever issue on the state and national political scene he or the governor felt was worth pursuing. Quoting extensively from the radio dialogs, Chartock looks at the complexities?and consistencies?in Cuomo's personality and political philosophies. Cuomo should be pleased with this very flattering book, for Chartock portrays the governor as a highly intelligent, insightful, and astute politician; a sensitive, devoted father and husband; and a concerned leader who feels a strong sense of civic responsibility. The governor is also strongly self-critical and always ready to laugh at himself. Cuomo, in his own highly readable and often entertaining book, shows he has been doing a lot more than munching corn chips since he left the governor's mansion. In an impassioned and articulate response to the Republicans' Contract with America, he labels the climate surrounding this Congress the "New Harshness." He characterizes Congressional Republicans as "Running Hard Backwards." And not just 60 years backward to the pre-New Deal days but to the era before the Constitution was framed. Cuomo chides GOP leaders for proposing a system that has been tried and failed?one that champions individualism and state sovereignty. He eloquently explains how the progressive government movements that began in this century and evolved through the New Deal and postwar economic boom succeeded because people worked together to solve problems. While he admits to excesses and failures in the system, he decries the GOP reaction as throwing the baby out with the bath water and advocates compromise and coordinated approaches to solving our problems. Libraries in New York State will want Chartock's volume, while Cuomo's book is recommended for political collections across the country.?Jill Ortner, SILS, SUNY at Buffalo
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1st revised edition (October 2, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684825333
• ISBN-13: 978-0684825335
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,718,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courage for the Liberal Soul, March 6, 2001

By 

Derek Newton "newspindoc" (Miami, Florida USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reason to Believe: A Keen Assessment of Who We Are and an Inspiring Vision of What We Could Be (Paperback)

Already known in Progressive circles as among the best political thinkers and speakers of the last 20 years, Governor Cuomo paints a clear and gripping picture of modern American politics.

From the decline of the middle class and the demonizing of education and government to a new political climate he calls the New Harshness, Cuomo is on target. As usual his rhetoric is uplifting and his points are concise. Economics, Labor Unions and Republican linguistic warfare all get their due as Cuomo takes apart modern conservative thought and puts together a new progressive doctrine for America's future.

Like the title, the content is what it claims to be. Cuomo's thoughts and observations are A Reason to Believe that we cannot cast aside the liberal ideas that made America great. He makes a strong case that these values -- and not divisive rhetoric -- will save our nation.

It's a must read for Progressives who want to do better and for Conservatives who want to know what the enemy is thinking.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, August 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Reason to Believe: A Keen Assessment of Who We Are and an Inspiring Vision of What We Could Be (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. Mario Cuomo really has a strong grasp on the most important issues of today. His views should be those shared by moral americans. As he says we are not all just 250 million lone horsemen riding off into the sunset, we're all in it together. It is our unity that keeps us strong. I agree with Cuomo that the Republicans are all just a bunch of babbling bafoons filled with greed. They are always pandering to the basest fears of people. Man's basest nature is greed and desire for control over other humans....... The Republicans embody all of that. Greed and Control.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book on compassion and reform in governmnt, April 28, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reason to Believe (Audio Cassette)

This book influenced me greatly. I remember I first read this book when I was in the 12th grade in high school. At the time, I was terribly confused over the labels "Republican" and "Democrat." Yet, this book helped me pick the way to go. In a time when many were turning to Republicans and their agenda of harshness, I, with the help of the great Mario Cuomo's "Reason to Believe," began to turn to the traditional Democratic politics of compassion, inclusion and progress for all.

I highly recommend this one to anybody wanting to get a pick me up in the age of Newt Gingrich and Monica Lewinsky or anybody wanting to know what the Democratic party really stands for.

Even though Cuomo may make some observations which divide "new" and "old" Democrats, the fact is that the basic feeling and message of the book, that we need an empowerment-based and compassionate activist government and not a harsh, do-nothing government, is one which still defines what it means to be a Democrat.

I highly recommend this one.