by James Carville. (Get the Book)Two well-known political figures begin by admitting to the failure of the Democratic Party to address concerns of the middle class. Political consultant Carville and researcher Greenberg offer background on their separate roads as, respectively, Cajun and northern Jewish political junkies that led them to the Democratic Party and the realization that the middle class had become the neglected American political constituency. At times, Carville and Greenberg alternate narration in a dialogue that takes to task the Democrats and urges policies aimed at providing relief to the beleaguered middle class on issues from taxation to health-care reform. They offer charts, statistics, and contrasting perspectives from the plainspoken sane world and the fog machine of politics. They admit the difficulty of clearly defining the middle class but settle on a broad definition that takes in three-quarters of the nation, noting that being middle class is an identity, a way of life, an idea and aspiration and a set of values. While this book's perspective is decidedly Democrat, the concerns will have appeal across the political spectrum as the election approaches. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Political guru James Carville and savvy pollster Stan Greenberg team up for a presidential campaign-oriented book that will be part of the media circus surrounding the election. --Booklist
