FOREWORD

      EVERY so often, there are moments that define a generation.

      For my grandfather, who marched in Patton’s army, and my grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line while he was at war, it was the liberation of Europe and the rebuilding of an America that offered unrivaled opportunity and mobility for the middle class. Decades later, men and women from all walks of life marched and struggled and sac rificed for civil rights, women’s rights, and worker’s rights. Free people from across the world tore down a wall to end a cold war, while the revolutions in communications and technology that followed have reduced global barriers to prosperity and cooperation.

      At the beginning of this young century, we face our own defining moment.

      Our nation is in the middle of two wars—a war in Iraq that must come to an end, and a war in Afghanistan that is and has always been the central front in the fight against terror. Our planet is in the midst of a climate crisis that, if we do not act, could devastate the world our children inherit. And our economy is in a downward spiral that is costing millions of Americans their homes, their jobs, and their faith in that fundamental promise of America—that no matter where you come from, or what you look like, or who your parents are, this is a country where you can make it if you try.

      But in this moment of great challenge exists an even greater opportunity. For in my travels across this country, I have found that the disillusionment with Washington is not limited to any one party or group of people. It is shared by Democrats, independents, and even Republicans from all walks of life who are tired of being disappointed by the partisanship and petty politics that stop us from solving challenges like health care, energy, and education year after year. These Americans and millions more understand that at this moment in history, we just can’t afford to keep doing what we’ve been doing. They are ready to come together and choose a new and better future for America.

      This election offers that choice. And this book is about that future.

      I have a vision for America rooted in the values that have always made our nation the last best hope of Earth—values that have been expressed to me on front porches and family farms; in church basements and town hall meetings over the last eighteen months. The people I’ve met know that government can’t solve all our problems, and they don’t expect it to. They believe in personal responsibility, hard work, and self-reliance. They don’t like seeing their tax dollars wasted.

      But they also believe in fairness, opportunity, and the responsibilities we have to one another. They believe in an America where good jobs are there for the willing, where hard work is rewarded with a decent living, and where we recognize the fundamental truth that Wall Street cannot prosper while Main Street crumbles—that a sound economy requires thriving businesses and flourishing families.

      In a globalized world that has changed dramatically over the last few decades, forging this kind of future will not be easy. It will require new ways of thinking and a new spirit of cooperation. We’ll need to work harder, and study more, and teach our children to replace the remote controls and video games with books and homework. And most of all, we’ll need the kind of politics and policies in Washington that finally reflect the best values of America.

      It won’t be easy. It won’t happen overnight. But I’m running for President because I believe that it’s possible. I believe that if we seize this moment to look beyond our differences and focus on the challenges that affect us all, we can meet them. It’s our choice.

      We can choose to do nothing about disappearing jobs and shuttered factories for another four years, or we can decide that we’ll have an economic policy that finally encourages growth and job creation in the United States of America. We can have a policy that ends the tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas and gives them to companies that create jobs right here. We can create five million new green jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced by investing in renewable sources of energy like wind power, solar power, and the next generation biofuels. And we can create another two million jobs by investing in our crumbling infrastructure and building new schools, roads, and bridges. The choice is ours.

      We can choose to let families who aren’t sure if their next paycheck will cover next month’s bills struggle on their own, or we can decide that if you work in this country, you will not want. We can give energy rebates to consumers who are having trouble filling up their gas tanks. We can give tax breaks to middle-class families and seniors instead of to Fortune 500 CEOs. We can lower health care premiums for those with insurance and make coverage affordable for those who don’t have it. And we can provide working families with a nest egg and make it easier for them to save for retirement. We can choose that future.

      We can allow ourselves to stay mired in the same education debate that has consumed Washington for decades, or we can come to a consensus that true progress on education will require both more resources and more reform. It will require investing in early-childhood education, recruiting an army of qualified teachers who we’ll pay more and expect more from in return, and ensuring that a college education is affordable by offering free tuition in exchange for community or national service.