Bill Bradley, Democrat

Views on charity issues: Wants non-profit groups — what he terms “the civil sector” — to step up their collaboration

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with government, businesses, and individuals to solve the country’s most pressing problems. Says the federal government, for example, could encourage more elderly people to become mentors to children by insuring that any stipends they received from charities did not count against their Social Security payments.

In his own words: “American civilization is like a three-legged stool, with government and the private sector being two legs and the third being civil society, the place where we live our lives, educate our kids, worship our God, and associate with our neighbors. . . . The failure to appreciate the importance of civil society lies at the core of our policy dilemma. Because we do not look for ways to strengthen and encourage the combination of community institutions, families, and religious institutions, we are left in a sterile debate about government versus the private sector, as if they were mutually exclusive areas of American life.”

Charity affiliations: Chaired the National Civic League, a Denver group that encourages charities, government, individuals, and businesses to work together to solve local problems; served on the Penn National Commission on Society, Culture, and Community, a group formed by the University of Pennsylvania.

Spouse’s non-profit interests: Ernestine Bradley serves on the boards of the American Council on Germany, in New York; Youth For Understanding, in Washington; and the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, in Washington.

Campaign Web site: http://www.billbradley.com