Building the Bridge: 10 Big Ideas to Transform America

Four years ago the Progressive Policy Institute's Mandate for Change rocketed onto the New York Times best seller list and popularized many of the "New Democrat" ideas later adopted by the Clinton administration. President-elect Bill Clinton hailed the book as one that "looks beyond the old Left-Right debates of the past and tries to move us toward a better future." Now, in Building the Bridge: 10 Big Ideas to Transform America, the Institute has brought together some of America's most innovative public thinkers and policy entrepreneurs to challenge the President and all Americans to embrace a bold vision based on new ideas and enduring values. This book looks beyond the election to radically refashion America's political and social agenda for the 21st century. Rejecting both the big government solutions of the left and the economic voodoo of the right, the authors focus on 10 new break-the-mold ideas for guiding America into the information age.

Al From is founder of the Democratic Leadership Council. Called a “legislative genius” by Washingtonian Magazine, From played a prominent role in the 1992 election of President Bill Clinton and served as Domestic Policy Advisor to the Clinton transition. Before founding the DLC in 1985, From was executive director of the House Democratic Caucus, served in President Jimmy Carter’s White House, and was staff director of the US Senate Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations. He is the author of The New Democrats and the Return to Power.

Al Gore was the forty-fifth Vice President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore also served in the U. S. House of Representatives (1977–85) and the U. S. Senate (1985–93), representing Tennessee. Gore was the Democratic nominee for president in the 2000 election.

ROBERT J. SHAPIRO is co-founder and chairman of Sonecon, LLC, a private firm that advises U.S. and foreign businesses, governments, and nonprofit organizations. He served as Under Secretary of Commerce from 1998 to 2001.  He also was the co-founder and Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute, Bill Clinton’s principal economic advisor in the 1991-1992 campaign, a senior economic advisor to Al Gore and John Kerry in their campaigns, Legislative Director for Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Assoc. Editor of U.S. News & World Report, and economics columnist for Slate magazine. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and lives in Washington, D.C.