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It gives a backstage pass for readers to see how Congress works and can be influenced. I enjoyed reading this book; it is a excellent resource. It gets specific right down to what Congressional staff members primary roles are and how best to leverage relationships with them.
Everything is described in an easy to read way, and reading the book will take you at most a few days so, if you got the $50 for the luncheon, grab a copy and get your butt over to Washington. Anybody can do it, you don't need corporate backing to acheive your agenda, as long as you control the lobby. So that is the only proof that I have that this book works. One of my aquaintences read this book and began lobbying on a small scale in New Jersey acheiving some success in the field until he got bored and became a lawyer. How do organizations send their minions into Washington and create laws for the rest of the people. Although, I do not have any aspirations to become a Washington lobbyist, I wanted to know how they do it. Needless to say, this book tells you the tricks of the trade (which in Washington is all one big trick). It details the method which the lobbyist must follow in order to get into the system, to talk to the politician and his staff, and to lead a grass-roots movement.
Off the several dozen I have read on lobbying and campaign management, this is one of the best and most appealing book I have encountered.The book starts with assuming that it represents the political agenda of a "Flat Earth Society" (association of believers in earth being flat). These arguments are presented piece meal at a time to thwart off elimination of flat earth dogma from various govt and school texts etc.The author has, using this premise as an example, shown all the necessary steps that a lobbyist will have to go through to convince the congress of his agenda and issues.Overall, an excellent book. This is one of the most excellent and at the same time, simple book on lobbying. It takes the defense of this ridiculous premise and weaves around it a web of very sophisticated arguments around issues pertaining to this premise.
while we used this book as a text for our class in lobbying at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to lobby congress. It gives a good basic understanding of the steps and tips on how to find a good lobbyist if you decide you need more help.
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