Falling Up: How a Redneck Helped Invent Political Consulting

Strother, a Texas bred Democrat consultant who served as a mentor to better known figures such as James Carville, recounts his experiences in the rough and tumble world of politics. In many hands, this could have been a very factual, dry and boring book. Luckily for the reader, Strother is an uproarious storyteller.The son of a fervent union man in Port Arthur, Texas, Strother more or less falls into the political consulting business by default. He begins his career in Louisana, a hotbed of corruption and questionable ethics. Thru his journey, we relive his often painful and hilarious campaign experiences with country singer Jimmie Davis, Gary Hart and Bill Clinton.Current politics are dirty business and not for the weak of heart. Idealists are often rudely discarded before they even realize what's happened. Strother considers himself a man of integrity in a profession that increasingly looks at such a trait as a weakness. He not only has to deal with Republican adversaries but underhanded tactics by members of his own party. Strother is honest in his analysis of his work and colleagues and spares no one including other Democrats who employed dirty tricks against his firm.No matter what side your political beliefs fall, this is a good read if you want to understand how politics work behind the scenes.

Books about politics by insiders get most of the business right, but only Ray Strother tells you what it is really like to work in national politics in plain, unhyped prose.

Ray Strother's chronicle of the industry that brings us our leaders is fascinating. His story is also an "American Success Story". From the giants of the U.S. Senate includingRussell Long (recently passed) and Lloyd Bentsen to today's leaders in the Senate - Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln and Zell Miller - Strother has woven a tapestry of stories that enthral and make us consider our democracy.This is a first-rate, fast-read of an industry that is seldom discussed but that brings us world leaders. Ad agency execs marvel at their brilliance but at the end of the day they sell sugar water to children. Strother has given an insight to a world seldom seen, but of importance to all of us. Get the book - read it and pass it around. This is one of those books that flys below the radar but could become a movie.happy reading

Raymond Strother's warts-and-all memoir of his life as a political consultant is a fun, must-read for all students of American politics. Strother's career began when there was still some innocence in campaigning, and winds up during the frustrating years of ego-driven hacks whose self-importance overshadows their candidates, to the detriment of government. Ray Strother's genuinity was formed the old-fashioned way: he grew up poor and learned to appreciate other people.Strother's tales of Southern political skirmishes will entertain. He's a smooth storyteller who should write more, now that he's out of the maelstrom of the Washington kill-or-be-killed consultant circuit.Caveat: I am a Republican, and although Strother's life has been spent around Democrats, his tales are compelling across the board.

The publishing world is awash with simplistic and incomplete "how-to" books. Veteran political consultant Raymond Strother, however, has written a thoroughly instructive political consulting text book, and it reads like a novel! Honorably and honestly, he has succeeded in creating a tome useful for academics and practitioners alike. He illustrates, through an accounting of his own career, why political consulting deserves to be treated and taught as a profession. It is the emotion of this book that is palpable and raw and real that offers the best insights, however. The book may not sit well with the weak-hearted, lazy or naive, but for politically-driven persons with a longing desire to serve, the book has immeasurable value. If you ascribe to and want to help lift up the highest ideals of political service, involvement and enlightenment, then buy this book for your permanent collection. Compare your own bewildering consulting experiences to painful lessons learned by him. Liberate your political soul. Mr. Strother has made a difference; maybe you can, too.