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The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System
Random House
February 2008
On Sale: February 5, 2008
272 pages
ISBN: 1400067332
EAN: 9781400067336
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Political
• A 2006 survey revealed that two thirds of Americans
consider themselves “dissatisfied with the way things are
going in the U.S.”
• In recent polls, 60 to 80 percent of
registered voters say they want an independent presidential
candidate.
• Independent voters now constitute the
largest segment of the American electorate.
America
is at a political crossroads. We are growing alienated from
the two major parties, which are dominated by ideologues and
offer simplistic solutions, with candidates who think only
in terms of how to frame issues–often irrelevant
“hot-button” issues–in order to get elected. Meanwhile,
voters tend to crave real solutions to the real problems we
face–energy independence, affordable health care, the
environment, jobs, sustainable national security. And
increasingly those voters want change and they want it now,
yearning for leaders who understand the tough problems,
confront them head-on, and can offer practical solutions
without kowtowing to lockstep partisan interests.
A
behind-the-scenes force in American politics for more than
thirty years who has worked with, among others, Ed Koch, Jon
Corzine, and Michael Bloomberg, political consultant Douglas
E. Schoen now makes a bold argument: that the 2008
presidential election offers an unprecedented opportunity
for the right third-party ticket. In Declaring
Independence, Schoen discusses major
trends–voter
dissatisfaction, lengthening campaign seasons, networking
and fund-raising on the Internet, demographic shifts,
fundamental changes in how Americans view their leaders–that
are opening the door to more independent candidates and
radically transforming how all candidates present themselves
to the electorate and citizenry.
The numbers don’t
lie: We are a nation of political moderates who want smart,
workable solutions to our serious problems. Largely as a
result of media attention, the current cynical and
dysfunctional political system divides us into red and blue
Americas–and in turn makes government less responsive,
efficient, and effective. Americans want to see results;
they don’t care whether those results come from Republicans
or Democrats or people outside the two old-school parties.
This is the first major book to study and analyze the
large-scale trends and minor developments that could pave
the way to a successful third-party presidential candidacy.
Clearheaded, optimistic, and filled with incisive commentary
from a respected authority on campaign politics,
Declaring Independence offers a cogent glimpse at a
transformed near future of American politics and government.
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