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. ( )