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Politicking: How to Get Elected, Take Action, and Make an Impact in Your Community
How to get elected--and live to tell the tale
Bill Rauch has lived an unusual political a decade as press secretary, advance man, and confidant to New York mayor Ed Koch, followed by a decade as city councilman and now as mayor of Beaufort, South Carolina.
In this account of the ways and means of local politics, Rauch contends that a great city and an antebellum town pose the same challenge-that of blending blood sport and selfless public service day in and day out. How to get elected, run a meeting, work the room, and take credit when it is due; how to ward off threats from rivals and control the agenda; how to look good on camera, leak stories, and shape press coverage to your Rauch illustrates these crucial points of political life with vivid and often hilarious inside stories from his tenure in New York and in Beaufort.
Politicking is a winning blend of political primer and personal chronicle; more than that, it is an unusually candid account of how the political game is played-and won-in America today.
Bill Rauch has lived an unusual political a decade as press secretary, advance man, and confidant to New York mayor Ed Koch, followed by a decade as city councilman and now as mayor of Beaufort, South Carolina.
In this account of the ways and means of local politics, Rauch contends that a great city and an antebellum town pose the same challenge-that of blending blood sport and selfless public service day in and day out. How to get elected, run a meeting, work the room, and take credit when it is due; how to ward off threats from rivals and control the agenda; how to look good on camera, leak stories, and shape press coverage to your Rauch illustrates these crucial points of political life with vivid and often hilarious inside stories from his tenure in New York and in Beaufort.
Politicking is a winning blend of political primer and personal chronicle; more than that, it is an unusually candid account of how the political game is played-and won-in America today.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2004
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 27, 2007
I read this several times before my campaign and loved it. Bill tells you what you REALLY NEED TO KNOW, and not what everyone thinks they should tell you. His advice about listening to your gut and not being swayed when in the moment is dead-on.
August 23, 2007
Part memoir, part political how-to guide, Bill Rauch draws on his experience working in New York as assistant to Ed Koch & as mayor of Beaufort, South Carolina.
The book is divided into three sections: gaining power, holding power, and losing power. There are interesting anecdotes and some useful tips, but tips like "In Boston, be a Democrat. In Arizona, be a Republican" can be pretty grating too me.
If you read the book as memoir, rather than political guide, the book would be well worth it. Rauch is very frank in discussing political considerations that guide decisions related to governing.
The book is divided into three sections: gaining power, holding power, and losing power. There are interesting anecdotes and some useful tips, but tips like "In Boston, be a Democrat. In Arizona, be a Republican" can be pretty grating too me.
If you read the book as memoir, rather than political guide, the book would be well worth it. Rauch is very frank in discussing political considerations that guide decisions related to governing.
August 10, 2011
Local elections for dummies, this book covers the gamut of what you need to win a local mayorial or council election. Everything from how to correctly talk to the media to delegation of power to finding your power base and staying in power. I learned a lot from this book, even though it was not the most scintillating read, it felt like a textbook on local politics at times.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews