Election 2008: Avoiding Another Train Wreck

by Seth Michaels, Jun 24, 2008

America’s voters are dissatisfied with the direction of the country—some 76 percent think we’re on the wrong track, according to the latest Associated Press poll. Working families are desperate for change. Journalist Bill Press says it starts with a change in leadership and a move away from the failed ideology that got us into this mess.

In a new Point of View guest column on the AFL-CIO website, Press discusses the upcoming election and why it matters in light of past years of conservative dominance in government. His new book, Train Wreck: The End of the Conservative Movement (and Not a Moment Too Soon), describes how the conservative, you’re-on-your-own outlook has failed the country.

Press, a longtime political observer and former co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire,” says this election year offers an opportunity to move past the disastrous Bush years and discard the bankrupt movement that created and sustained the Bush agenda.

The real decision Americans must make is whether we go in a new direction or whether we remain stuck in the failed policies of the past. For all the issues we care about—for health care, workers’ rights, a living wage, Employee Free Choice, fair trade, environmental and worker protection—we must embark in an entirely new direction.

The changes wrought by the Bush agenda—an agenda of, by and for corporate lobbyists and ideological extremists—have left us with a weakened economy that doesn’t work for most of us. Meanwhile, America’s image in the world is crippled, and infrastructure, consumer product safety and the environment have been ignored. These aren’t accidents, Press argues, but the inevitable result of an on-your-own ideology that says government can’t and shouldn’t work on behalf of its citizens.

Read more of Press’ thoughts on the 2008 elections here. Train Wreck, an informative and impassioned history of the rise and fall of the conservative agenda, is available at The Union Shop Online™ here.

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