Inside Campaigns
Elections through the Eyes of Political Professionals
- William J. Feltus
- Kenneth M. Goldstein - University of San Francisco, USA
- Matthew Dallek - George Washington University, USA
Elections & Political Campaigns
Inside Campaigns: Elections Through the Eyes of Political Professionals offers readers a detailed, thoroughly researched examination of U.S. political campaigns. Through the eyes of more than 100 campaign managers and political professionals, it takes a behind-the-scenes look at the ways campaigns are managed, the strategies that are employed, the roles played by both staff and the candidates, and all the ways campaigns affect election outcomes. The expert author team provides guidance drawn from actual campaign case studies and contributes their own data-backed assessment of the current state of modern political campaign management. They offer a trove of observations and war stories. Interviewees include high-profile professionals such as David Axelrod, Ken Mehlman, James Carville, and Kevin Sheekey, as well as lesser-known political journeymen and women who manage America’s state and local campaigns. Democrats and Republicans are evenly represented, giving students a balanced, unique and valuable insight into how campaigns operate.
"Inside Campaigns takes readers into the world of campaign managers. Powered by scores of interviews and surveys of political professionals, the book considers the purpose, potency, and poetry of modern political campaigns in the US.Written by a team with both a scholarly pedigree and a hand in applied politics, Inside Campaigns is a deeper, more systematic approach than seen in several other volumes that do little more than transcribe the comments of political professionals. Instead, the authors take readers on a carefully laid out guided tour of major campaign tasks, such as voter targeting and message strategy. Though the typical campaign text is stuffed with data and wrung free of life, Inside Campaigns includes the drama and intrigue that courses through the topic. Run the negative ad or not? Put money into afield staff, or shift resources elsewhere? These are decisions that can elect candidates and determine whether campaign professionals will work again. An invaluable guide for college students considering a career in campaign politics and a useful work for any campaigns class."
Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals.
“The strength of Inside Campaigns is its differentiation from most other books in this market. Extensive interviews conducted by the authors with campaign managers results in an insider view that isn’t typically present in a book written by political scientists. Feltus, Goldstein, and Dallek are able to juxtapose the theories typically used by political scientists with the knowledge given by campaign managers, providing readers with a unique 360 degree perspective.”
“I am impressed not only by the purpose of Feltus, Goldstein, and Dallek’s text—to bring real-world perspectives to the study of an immensely important part of campaigns and elections—but also by their fascinating take on the debate over the degree to which campaigns matter. Their argument is rational, powerful, and well documented, as is their distinction among structure, share, and persuasion in planning and executing campaigns. Well done.”
“Feltus, Goldstein, and Dallek offer a comprehensive text on the role of campaign managers in devising campaign strategy and carrying it through. The use of testimony and statements from practitioners, both well-known and less well-known, provides the book with an air of authenticity. The integration of scholarship on the topic, with related anecdotes, case studies, and statements from actual campaign managers adds to the overall narrative and argument. Campaigns do matter, especially with the focus on the margins, and this is borne out in the text.”
