Our guests today are AF Cook and Dr. Lewis J. Perelman and our subject today is what happened on Election Day and what doe sit all mean? A.F. Cook is an author, sometime blogger, and average American citizen whose recent book, “Democrats in the Red Zone: an Independent voter’s take on the game of political perception” was published in November 2007. Cook wants Democrats to be savvier about how they play the political perception game. She believes Republicans retain an edge in their understanding of American cultural biases, and that Democrats must sharpen their rhetoric and cultivate more mainstream perceptions of their constituencies to gain an upper hand.

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In a direct challenge to the organizational culture of the Democratic Party in particular and liberal culture in general, Cook asserts that such a strategic shift will only occur when barriers to inclusion based on class and educational credentials are broken down within those two cultures. Cook believes that America’s voting majority — especially football fans — detests one trait even more than dishonesty: pretentiousness. In her view, the impact of Sarah Palin’s nomination as the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate clearly illustrates this reality. Ms. Cook lives in Virginia, which she calls a “red state going purple,” and she was a guest on The Advocates on both January 2nd and September 3rd of this year talking about politics.

Dr. Lewis J. Perelman is a Washington-DC policy and management consultant.  A native of Mount Vernon, New York, he received his bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from the City College of New York, and went on to study physics at Columbia University and Harvard University.  He later earned his doctoral degree in administration, planning, and policy from Harvard, where his studies focused on sustainable economic development.
 
Lewis Perelman has worked for over 30 years—as an analyst, consultant, and author—on key strategic concerns of public policy: from energy and environment to national security, human capital, technology, and economic development.  He has been an adviser to government policy makers at the local, state, federal, and international levels; has been a fellow at several leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute and the Homeland Security Institute; and has produced or contributed to 12 books and over 100 other publications.