It's My Party Too by Christine Todd Whitman

Gov. Whitman looks at ways that the conservatives have made the Republican Party less effective. For example,

There is no doubt in my mind that the rise of the social fundamentalist wing of the GOP is a serious threat to the longterm competitiveness of the Republican Party. It is also making it almost impossible for the party to develop a program for governing. The social fundamentalists could even cause the party to lose its hold on the Congress and the White House before the end of this decade.

She also holds some realistic and interesting ways to approach the topic of sex education:

In our driver education classes, we teach teenagers not to speed or drive recklessly. But because we understand the risks on the highway, we also teach them to use their seat belts. We should be doing the same thing when it comes to sex education-urging them to remain abstinent until marriage, but equipping them with the information they need to be safe. That strikes me as both reasonable and responsible.

Let's hope as Democrats that her party doesn't start paying a lot of attention to her. They might coopt the black voters: "Although African American voters constitute just 12 percent of the electorate, we must realize that the place race relations occupy in American life looms far larger than that. "

Finally, without realizing it I think she has hit the nail on the head about why Democrats are losing:

Moderates also have to stop overthinking every issue, particularly with regard to how they talk about their beliefs. The social fundamentalists have been expert at distilling their ideas into simple language that draws sharp contrasts between "right" and "wrong"-they see very few shades of gray. Moderates, on the other hand, tend to see the nuances in issues. Too often we moderates get trapped by our own thinking, spending so much time considering the many aspects of complex problems that we lead some to think we don't stand for or believe in anything.

I am not advocating the oversimplication of policy, but the way in which we communicate our views shouldn't be needlessly complex.There are those who argue it's hard to motivate moderates, suggesting they aren't as rabid about issues as those at the extremes are.

Democrats can learn a lot from this book. Let's hope Republicans don't read it.