Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That Is Destroying America

You can see why the authors are friends. There is a level of respect and admiration on both ends. They may not agree on certain issues, but they both want what is good for America. Since I am a Democrat, I will say I am glad to see Thomas agrees with Beckel on the most partisan posturing that has been going on as of recent history and that Republicans have been driving it. Not that the Democrats have been innocent, but Republicans just took it too unimaginable levels. I am also glad to see that they cover the history of politics. Goldwater working with Carter (post lawsuit) was interesting. All-in-all, I think politicians should read this book. Perhaps their perspectives would change somewhat.

I agree with the authors that there's been too much polarization in recent American politics. Many issues facing our nation are for the most part bipartisan. We need a functioning economy, we need excellence in our institutions, we need to address issues in health, transportation, the environment, education, economic stability and security, housing, human rights, justice, and much more. There's normal disagreement on many such issues, but that's not the problem. I think the problem comes when we characterize those on the opposite side of the aisle as having nothing positive to contribute and of being counterproductive or unpatriotic. That can lead to a cynicism which reduces our ability to see differences among candidates, and it can lead to worse government. It also means that campaign rhetoric can swamp serious discussion of issues, so that our votes have little to do with the actual platforms of the candidates, let alone with what the candidates will surely plan to do once in office. And that makes for less sensible and less consistent policies and government. This book has some discussion of the problems as well as some approaches to common grounds for dealing with some of the issues. Of course, I may be a little biased. I'm a liberal, but I'm certainly not a supporter of Michael Moore and even less of Ann Coulter, two of the more noted "polarizers." Even Moore and Coulter, of course, have occasionally made some good points, but that's not the point: their net effect has been counterproductive. I was sad to see that the authors were not able to agree on the issue of the Iraq war. I know this is not an easy issue, but it is a very important one. Beckel and Thomas wrote separate sections about it and agreed on a little at the end. I hoped they could do better than that. On the other hand, Thomas did make a good point in his section which Beckel did not explicitly disagree with. Namely, there has been a consensus in the State Department on the issue of a new Levantine Arab state! It wants one, and it has wanted one no matter whether the administration has been Republican or Democratic. Thomas noted that the purpose of such a state would be to destroy Israel and to expel the Jews from the region. That's true, it ought to be said more often, and it shows a big problem with the whole idea of creating such a state. Our Congress has been far less eager to impose such a state on the region than our State Department, and perhaps a less polarized Congress might have an effect that could outweigh the State Department here. On a practical matter, I agree that it would make sense for candidates to give their opponents a little more credit. That would enhance everyone's credibility and it would make it easier for folks to work together for the common good. I recommend this book.

Common Ground is an important read for all of us, and our elected political officials and special interest representatives should take heed - that they should stop worrying about Democratic and Republican and moneyed interests and truly work together with the sole agenda being what is best for the people of our country and the world.

It used to be that politicians didn't always agree with each other but at least they were civil to each other. By showing respect, they found common ground, reached compromises and got important things done, such as building the nation's interstate highway system, rebuilding Europe and Japan after World War II, implementing the G.I. bill, passing Medicare or the Voting Rights Act, winning the Cold War, reducing disease, landing a man on the moon and coordinating and funding early Internet development. But now politics is not just about disagreeing with the other guy, it's about trying to personally destroy him, bankrupt him with legal fees or even put him in jail. Not surprisingly, it's a bit hard to find common ground in a system like that. If you've ever wondered how we got into this mess -- and how we can get out of it -- Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel's book "Common Ground" will tell you. First, it traces the recent history of polarization in American politics, which has become so bad it's caused people in the middle to abandon the field to radicals on both sides. And then it urges voters to seize the opportunity of the upcoming elections to change this. What we need, the authors point out, are more "radical moderates" (my term), voters who are a) motivated to take back politics from the fanatics and b) wise enough to understand how we've been manipulated into playing a destructive game that we're not going to play any more. Some of the books recommendations: * Realize that today's polarization is more about just holding onto power than solving problems most voters really care about. That candidates to vote for are the ones who have a demonstrated record of leadership in forging compromise to accomplish things, not ideologues who have a history of dividing us. * Look for candidates who are willing to admit their opponents have at least some good ideas. And be particularly skeptical about the candidates who have nothing but negative ads. * Press candidates for less scripted debates, and more questions between candidates and from the public. This means demanding that political consultants, worried about losing control, accept it, and demanding that the media refrain from trying to trick the candidates into "gotcha" moments. * Look for candidates willing to put significant members of the other party into their administrations, and not just a few tokens as window dressing. This will cut down on the present situation in which much of what a new administration proposes is dead on arrival. * Look not for candidates to run on common ground solutions to problems -- that will only upset their base voters -- but rather look for candidates who will use common ground processes once in office. * Look for candidates who will not waste time fighting battles that cannot be won but who instead will address matters where there is already agreement that a problem exists and what goal needs to be reached to alleviate it. And look for candidat

At a time when partisan politics is dividing America, Cal Thomas and Bob Bechel present an alternative. COMMON GROUND: HOW TO STOP THE PARTISAN WAR FROM DESTROYING AMERICA is co-written by two most unlikely suspects, one from either bank, yet the book comes out as fair and balanced! Amazing. It should be required reading for every high school and college student, in American history, civics and poli sci. I would have paid more attention in class if I had had that book to enlighten me! This is one of the very few examples of cooperation from both sides of the aisle. I trust it could be a model to Congress.