Positively American: How the Democrats Can Win in 2008

As the results of the last presidential election played out, it became clear that while Democrats call themselves the party of the middle, the middle class does not consider the Democrats their party. Now, Chuck Schumer, who has gained national prominence as the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and as a member of the Finance Committee, offers his plan for capturing the middle-class vote and moving his party back into the majority. Democrats can accomplish this, the senator explains, without abandoning their traditional principles.

Schumer envisions a hypothetical, average middle-class American family-- he thinks of them as The Baileys-- who spend as much time talking about the cost of cornflakes as the cost of the national debt. He then details specific proposals he believes would keep America safe, secure, and on top; and support the aspirations of a prosperous and growing middle class while speaking to anxieties created in a world changed by technology and globalization. For example, he proposes to:

- increase the number of college graduates by 50%

- reduce property taxes by 50%