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43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Stump-Speech-Style Description of Proposed Programs, March 25, 2004
Far be it for me to evaluate the ideas of a presidential candidate. I do have opinions about how well Senator Kerry communicated the ideas in the book. It seems to me that he did an average job for a politician.It is important that political candidates write books. Television loves "sound bites" which are too short to express a whole idea that is more complicated than "love your Mom." Advertising is usually full of mud slinging and labels rather than details. Debates are all about accusations. In case you do not read the book, here is a summary of the ideas presented in the book: 1. International action by the United States should be done in concert with the international community, involving established organizations like the United Nations and the IMF. So we should not have gone to war with Iraq until an international consensus had been built. 2. President Bush has done a good job of leading the military into action, but has not balanced that leadership with diplomacy and international cooperation to make our positions as strong as possible. 3. Nations like France, Russia and Germany need to be more cooperative in dealing with international problems. 4. The United States needs to become a model of the benefits and superiority of proper behavior in a democracy. 5. Domestic economic policy should shift from tax cuts on unearned income for the rich to developing jobs through tax incentives to create new jobs, new technology to expand domestic employment, a higher minimum wage, and better education for all Americans. 6. Schools need to be improved by funding "No Child Left Behind" and structural changes in public schools to make them more effective. 7. The U.S. needs to become less dependent on Middle Eastern oil by establishing new technologies to use solar, wind, and water power. He would also like to accelerate the development of more high tech sources of energy. 8. The environment should receive more protection than it is getting now. We should go back to being an international leader in this area. 9. Health care costs need to be cut immediately and bureaucracy taken out of the system while expanding coverage to almost all Americans in inexpensive ways. 10. College should become universally available to those who are willing to prepare, with economic incentives to make this easier. 11. All young people should be asked to do 2 years of community or military service after they are 18. 12. Where we do not have the money to solve problems, we should encourage voluntary efforts to make up the difference. 13. Veterans should receive a fairer shake on their medical care. 14. States should get the financial aid they used to receive for federal programs. In many cases, the points were raised so generally that it was unclear how they would be implemented . . . or how well the implementation would work. That's where the stump-speech style got in the way of communication. I found the suggestions about how to change medical care to be the least clear, and I would have liked to know more. In particular, it would have helped to see some documentation of "why" the proposed changes would work better where the suggestions are new. The book also portrays a series of principles that he urges future presidents to follow: 1. Represent all Americans rather than just your voting bloc. 2. Keep your campaign promises. 3. Work in cooperation with the other political party. 4. Focus on creating conditions that allow citizens to succeed on their own. The book also recounts his experience as a Vietnam war protester, prosecutor, a lieutenant governor in Massachusetts, and as a long-time member of the Senate in dealing with these issues. Most of the ideas are expressed in terms of precedents by former presidents. Senator Kerry most often seems to be echoing the "Ask not what your country can do for you . . . but what you can do for your country" charge made by President Kennedy in his inaugural address. I thought the most revealing parts of the book involved his descriptions of accommodations he has made with Republicans in the past to accomplish bi-partisan objectives. That part rang true with me. The only time I have met Senator Kerry (although I live in his home state of Massachusetts) was at a conference in Washington in October 1987, when he had only been a senator for a few years. My host was a Republican senator, Larry Pressler. Senator Pressler arranged for a number of ranking Republicans to meet with us, and Senator Kerry was the only Democrat he invited. It was clear at the session that Senator Kerry felt that he should reach out to Republicans to accomplish important tasks. I hope that we will have more opportunities to learn about Senator Kerry's detailed thoughts on how to deal with our many pressing problems. As I finished the book, I realized that I have become accustomed to thinking of politicians in terms of their parties and their foibles. It would be refreshing to think of them instead as standing for important principles of excellence, helping all Americans, and being a good role model.
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