Bill Rauch has lived an unusual political life: 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 advantage: 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.
"Politicking is required reading for anyone who aspires to the greatest job in the world--that of an elected official in the place you call home. The instructional and often hilarious anecdotes in this book illustrate that there's no difference between governing New York City and Beaufort, South Carolina."
Ed Koch, former Mayor of New York City
"A primer of commonsense advice for the political outsider considering a run for office...The dope on how to get the drop on a small-town political scene."
