The Great Divide: Retro vs. Metro America

the great divide: retro vs. metro america

The Great Divide: Retro vs. Metro America

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The Great Divide is a blueprint for how the Democratic Party can regain, and maintain, control of the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives. John Sperling and his co-authors acknowledge that the U.S. has seldom been truly united, and there currently exists such a wide gap that the U.S. is effectively two nations: "one traditional and rooted in the past, and one modern and focused on the future." They are divided along racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, political, and geographic lines. The battle, they write, is not Left versus Right; rather, it's Metro versus Retro America. Retro America is defined by the South, the Midwest, and the Rocky Mountain states; Metro America consists of the two coasts and the Great Lakes states. The authors argue that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are national parties, so there is no point in behaving as such. They recommend that the Democrats concede the Retro states and focus entirely on the Metro states, which should be their base. This would allow the party to develop a coherent message that would connect with voters and to take advantage of the fact that Metro states account for 65 percent of the population. Then, once a strong base is built, the Democrats can work on unifying America as a whole.

The authors, led by John Sperling, former chairman of the Apollo Group Inc. and founder of the University of Phoenix, show how the Republicans brilliantly built a brand image by manipulating facts and waging a culture war, and they offer specific ways in which the Democrats can counter the attacks and build a brand of their own on the basis of concepts of inclusion, security, and science. The book also includes highly specific policy recommendations for the Democratic Party, as well as compelling information on a wide range of issues, including corporate welfare and subsidies, the role of religion in America, and ways to reduce poverty. Copious statistics, charts, poll results, and graphs complement the text without drying it out, making this a thoughtful, well-researched, and intriguing book that offers much to ponder for readers on both sides of the divide. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description
This book reframes the "red state"/"blue state" debate as "retro America" - the South, the Plains states, the Mountain West, and Appalachia - vs. "metro America," composed of the populous states on both coasts and the Great Lakes states. The authors - three of them economists - detail how the Republicans pander to the fears of retro America's fundamentalist Christians while frantically outsourcing jobs, shredding the social safety net, and subsizing corporate interests at the expense of the lives of average citizens. The book then shows Democrats how to take back the country by focusing entirely on the metro states - their natural base, which also happens to account for 65 percent of the population. Once a strong base is built, the authors argue, the Democrats can work on unifying America as a whole. A wealth of color photos, political cartoons, maps, charts, and graphs make this important book an accessible, lively read.

The Great Divide: Retro vs. Metro America

The Great Divide: Retro vs. Metro America,John Sperling,Suzanne Helburn,Samuel George,John Morris,Carl Hunt,PoliPoint Press,0976062100,1970-,Civilization,Government - U.S. Government,National characteristics, American,Philosophy,Political Ideologies - Conservatism & Liberalism,Political Ideologies - Democracy,Political Ideologies - General,Political Science,Politics - Current Events,Politics / Current Events,Politics and government,Politics/International Relations,Right and left (Political science),Social values,United States,Political Science / Democracy

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