According to the pundits, the soccer moms and wired dads will decide the next presidential election. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why America's "forgotten majority" are the real swing voters. They are the millions of Americans who've watched the boom economy run right past them.

Joel Rogers, co-author with Ruy Teixeira of "America's Forgotten Majority," tells Steve Paulson that the white working class has been left behind by the booming economy and that this demographic holds the key to the next election. Rogers teaches Law, Sociology and Political Science at the University of Wisconsin/Madison. Also, Mary Starkey, founder of the Starkey International Institute for Household Managers, tells Jim Fleming that her students are professionals, not servants, and that running a household with antiques and fancy cars is itself a fine art.

Sociologist Mitch Duneier studied and befriended the men who hawked magazines at a particular intersection in New York's Greenwich Village. What he found was a complex economy which he describes in his book "Sidewalk." He and Ishmael Walker, one of the street vendors he writes about, tell Steve Paulson how they do business on the street and how they deal with the police.

Cynthia Crossen is a Senior Editor at The Wall Street Journal and author of "The Rich and How They Got That Way." She tells Jim Fleming about Machmud of Ghazni, Genghis Khan, and Mean Mad Hetty Green and says none of them knew how to enjoy the wealth they accumulated with such single-mindedness. Also, Chuck Collins (who decided to give away the Oscar Mayer fortune he'd inherited) and activist Pam Rogers are the authors of "Robin Hood Was Right: A Guide to Giving Your Money for Social Change." They talk with Jim Fleming about the new trend of socially responsible philanthropy.

• Alienation's for the Rich from They Might Be Giants
• Puttin' on the Ritz with Ella Fitzgerald from The Irving Berlin Songbook
• Georgia on My Mind from Night Train: Oscar Peterson Trio
• If I Had $1,000,000 from Barenaked Ladies

Distribution dates:

• week of 09/03/2000 - hour 1