Politicking: How to Get Elected, Take Action, and Make an Impact in Your Community

Even if you're not "into" politics, there's much in POLITICKING by Bill Rauch that can be enjoyed . . . he's a former advance man for Ed Koch who is now mayor of Beaufort, South Carolina. He provides much practical advice on what is needed to get elected at any level, but in doing so, he also gives you insight on how to run a meeting, work a room, deal with negative press coverage, how to look good on camera, etc. . . . I know that I took lots of notes and plan to use some of them in my teaching . . . also, I've already shared many of the ideas with friends (both politicians and those in the business world). For example, there's this useful technique for generating applause when speaking: Here's a Lee Atwater trick that's worth trying if you've got an energized group of core supporters and election day's approaching. Nothing looks better on TV than you with 150 Kiwanians standing and cheering you. But how do you get them out of their seats? First, write a speech that builds up to and then ends with your announcing something that's news and that the community wants, say a new football stadium for the high school or a new parking facility downtown. You don't have to say you've got the money, just that you favor the new project and you'll work to make it happen. Practice the speech until you know it's good. Then make sure the TV camera crews are in the back of the room. Tell them there'll be news in your speech that they won't want to miss, but don't tell them what it is or they may not come to find out. Get as many of your people into the room as you can, but-this is the Atwater part-position ten or twelve of your most reliable supporters throughout the room as if you're the batter and they're the fielders in a baseball game, with a "pitcher" at front row center. Cue your team, especially the pitcher, to the applause line at the end of the speech, telling them, "When I get to the applause line, get up and start clapping hard as soon as the pitcher gets up." It will amaze you to see all the other Kiwanians rising with them. And the footage of the crowd standing and clapping as you humbly sit down after concluding your remarks will be irresistible to the editors back at the TV stations' cutting rooms. There were several other valuable tidbits of information; among them: The next step--and here's one of the many places organizational ability, hard work, and people skills pay off--is to either call or preferably go see each of these people. Most people find it vastly easier to say no to a voice on the phone than to a person sitting in their living room. So whenever possible, go see your prospective committee members in their homes. When you get there, don't be shy. Pitch the wife. Pitch the kids. Pitch the mother-in-law. Tell the son that you're running and how important his father's support is to your candidacy. Watch the movie Primary Colors and learn from the Bill Clinton character. The ability to make an ordinary person feel extraordinary is a

The recent reviewer of this book, a Mr. John McCommas, either did not read it completely or missed its point entirely. Far from being a party waffler, Bill Rauch goes out of his way to explain and illustrate that party partisanship and ideology has little efficacy in solving local issues. He is quite clear in stating that, while on the State and National level, party and partisan loyalty may be the source of power, "at the local level the opposite is true, the non-partisan is able to work with everyone" (p. 37). Independence, he suggests, is a path to resolution. Rauch takes a refreshingly practical look at how local issues arise and how one goes about solving them in the most satisfactory and effective way that serves the needs of the community in question. Drawing on a wide range of personal experiences, both as a small town mayor and as an aide to New York City's Mayor Ed Koch, Rauch illustrates how problems are solved, crises averted, and elections run. His blow by blow descriptions of the thought processes behind specific situations is revelatory and a must read for anyone who wants to understand the logic of political presentation and resolution. His anecdotal style is refreshing and he makes the tackling of daily community problems read like a detective story. Perhaps more than anything, however, Rauch not only explains how average people can enter politics, but why. He points out that the multimillion dollar media campaigns of ideological sound bites is not where real politics takes place, but rather it is closer to home in issues that affect our daily lives. This book is in many ways a call to service and Rauch appeals to everyone's sense of democratic responsibility for the locale in which they have invested their lives.

This book is really a very handy resource for those interested in running for and holding a political office. Rauch gives excellent pointers, followed by personal examples or experiences, and then goes back to the pointer he was initially attempting to make. Examples of such pointers include:"To win a seat in your local government it is helpful to have distinguished youself by doing something that is a significant sector of the electorate wanted to see done." (p.3)"It is never good in public life to become angry, especially when you are about to address hundreds to people. While it is sometimes beneficial to appear to be shocked or outraged, it is a big mistake to let actual anger, which is self-indulgent, overwhelm your tactical saavy." (p.14)"You cannot win alone. And the friends you choose to help you win will be yours for a long time, so choose them carefully." (p. 37)"There is no such thing as noncontroversial money in politics. If you use your own, you may later be criticized for "buying" the election. If you use someone else's, you may later be criticized for having been "bought" by your contributor. Yet it is also said with considerable justification that "money is the mother's milk of politics."" (p. 47)"Local government is the government that is closest to the people. Local government officials, then, have the opportunity to make changes that are felt immediately by the people." (p. 57)"Campaigns test this quality - grace under pressure - as well." (p. 60)"This is not to say, however, that the little known unfortunate things there are about your opponent should be concealed from the electorate. Just the opposite. The more of her dirty laundry that can be hung out, the better it is for you. It is just that none of it should be hung by you." (p. 64)"In the end, all you can do is be yourself, and in the end that's all your constituents want you to be. They can smell a phony a mile away. And phonies don't get elected." (p. 111)Those are just a few of the many tips Rauch has shared in the book. It is an extremely good read and quite resourceful. I recommend it for anyone interested in getting involved in the political process of running for office.

Bill Rauch had a pretty impressive tutor before he ran for mayor of Beaufort, South Carolina...New York City mayor Ed Koch. Rauch served as advance man and press secretary to Koch and it appears he learned his lessons well. Rauch distills his knowledge into Politicking : How to Get Elected, Take Action, and Make an Impact in Your Community, sometimes folksy, other times Machiavalian.Rather than a dry manual, Rauch employs a humorous style to illustrate his points. Admonishments and advice are seamlessly woven in with anecdotes from his days in New York and Beaufort. Some of his advice is obvious even to those with no political experience -- make sure to be available to the people you want to represent and avoid waffling -- while other tidbits would seem counterintuitive to readers. For example, aspiring politicians -- contrary to popular perception about elected representatives -- shouldn't talk too much. It's a good way avoid saying something stupid and it allows the voters to speak their minds.Though at times Politicking occasionally comes across as a one-sided testament to Rauch's apparent ability to always occupy the moral high ground, he never seems to have been on the wrong side of an issue, overall it is a fine guide for aspiring politicians. Even those not brave -- or foolhardy -- enough to throw their hats in the ring will find Politicking an entertaining look into how and why decisions are made that effect them.