(Larger Image)
|
How To Win A Local Election, Revised: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide
by Judge Lawrence Grey
Product Group: Book
Publisher: M. Evans and Company, Inc. (1999-04-25)
ISBN: 0871318784
EAN: 9780871318787
Dewy Decimal #: 324.70973
Paperback: 252 pages
Edition: Revised Updated
SKU: GD08061336
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Exactly as shown, Covers flat and shiny, Spine uncreased, Text clean with NO marks.
|
Editorial Reviews
|
Product Description
Revised and updated, this is the most practical, most detailed handbook ever published on the techniques and approaches you need to run a successful campaign for any local office.
|
Customer Reviews
|
An essential book for all would-be candidates
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-05-26
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
There are three books that I think all would-be candidates should buy: 1) How to Run for Local Office by Robert J. Thomas; 2) The Campaign Manager by Catherine Shaw; and 3) This one. When I ran for Congress in 2004, I relied on all three, whereas the other books I bought (five in all) offered little additional insight. Sadly, I "lent" this book to another candidate three years ago and never received it back, and since I don't plan on running for office again, I haven't had a need to repurchase it - this is why my review is scant on details. But I do remember that this book was excellent and if I ever did decide to run again, I would immediately add it to my Amazon cart.
|
|
Great Book for First Time Candidates and Campaigners
Rating  (5)
Date: 2005-10-09
7 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
I have used this book and its predecessor for numerous local campaigns. It is not written at a theoretical level but is a nuts-and-bolts primer for small campaigns. I have other books on the subject, but this is the one I recommend most highly.
I find that many people who want to run for political office at the local level really have no idea about the mechanics of a campaign. By the time they realize that it is no easy task, they are too far gone or too dejected to turn their campaigns around. This book is an excellent guide for them to read before they start. I like the fact that Judge Grey demands a basic analysis of what it will take to win before a candidate commits himself.
I also think the judge's willingness to make recommendations (i.e. don't run as an independent, his insistence that no campaign is too small for a campaign manager) sets his book apart from others. The title of this book is "How to WIN a Local Election", not how to run one. In fact, he capitalizes the word "WIN" himself. Often times these books are written by political science professors who lose sight of the objective of a political campaign-- to "WIN" !
In short, this is an excellent primer for small local campaigns. Good enough that I buy copies to give to potential candidates before they throw their hat in the ring.
|
|
A citizen's primer on your civic duty.
Rating (4)
Date: 2005-08-15
6 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is full of great practical ideas for planning and running a local campaign. If you know you want to run for office but you've never done it before, and you don't know where to start, this is the book for you. The author breaks it down into pieces and helps you figure out where to target your limited resources. It helps that he's won a few elections. So get going...remember, just voting only gets you a D, to get an A, you've got to run for office yourself.
|
|
Concise & informative guide to the basics for success
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-07-17
Grey produced a concise, informative and well-written guide to winning a local election. Local elections are won on actions that put the campaign in touch with the voters. This short, easy to read book provides the essentials quickly (I read it in a day) freeing the campaign to get out and work efficiently and effectively.
The criticism that the book is too basic by other reviewers misses the point. With experience as a senior project leader for a major national political polling firm, I still forgot what it takes to manage an entire campaign. The book is not naive in its simplicity, but eloquent at making decisions about what is relevant to convey to get a campaign up quickly and in the right direction.
|
|
Was a good overview for its day... dated
Rating  (3)
Date: 2005-05-09
7 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is the best of the four books I've recently compared to run a local campaign. Three others, "Winning Local and State Elections" by Beaudry/Schaeffer, "Winning Polical Campaigns," by Bike, and "How to Win an Election," by Huseby are much more dated and significantly flawed. Of these books, this is by far the best, providing a good overview of the things one needs to do in order to run a successful campaign. Others have provided an overview of what you'll find inside and you can sneak a peak online, so I won't provide redundant info here. This book is unique in highlighting areas that may not apply to your particular election and highlighting potential "gotchas" for which you need to be alert, for instance financial reporting requirements for your state.
This book, like the others, falls short in its coverage of technology (online presence for the candidate, email communication, effective use of databases, automated polling maps), and in some cases is bent towards larger elections which have political party affiliation.
All-in-all a decent primer with helpful hints for getting started, but you'll also likely want to invest in something with a bit more depth around areas of particular interest/need for you: targetting, polling, messaging/communication, or advertising.
|
|
|