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Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way A Comprehensive Guide for Candidates and Campaign Workers Jeff Blodgett and Bill Lofy
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Not politics as usual—advanced strategy for running and winning a progressive campaign. As the 2008 presidential race dominates political discussion and media coverage worldwide, thousands of lesser-known local contests are being hard-fought in our neighborhoods, cities, and states. Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way is based on the work of Wellstone Action, a leading-edge progressive training center that has instructed thousands of political activists, campaign managers, and volunteers, of whom more than two hundred have gone on to run for office and win. Jeff Blodgett and Bill Lofy analyze the crucial lessons learned from many successful (and several losing) campaigns and demystifies what it takes to run for—and win—a political seat. This companion guide to Politics the Wellstone Way, the best-selling introduction to political action, features the in-depth knowledge that campaigns need to take energy and engagement to the next level—getting elected. With detailed and informative examples from progressive campaigns at every level throughout the United States, Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way combines grassroots organizing with political strategy, articulating a bold populist agenda. “My friend Paul Wellstone believed in the politics of passion and bottom-up participation, and Wellstone Action continues his work by teaching his winning strategies to a new generation of progressives. Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way is an invaluable how-to handbook of the tools and tactics that Paul perfected with practical case studies from Paul's most trusted advisors that show you how to translate theory into practice in the heat of a campaign. This book is a superb source book for candidates as well as campaign managers and staff. I couldn't recommend this book more highly.” —U.S. Senator Tom Harkin “Paul Wellstone used populist politics and grassroots organizing to light a prairie fire that swept him into office despite the longest of odds. He knew what he believed and he knew how to win. His legendary formula for winning elections without compromising his values is contained in the pages of this book—a must read for progressives who want to win!” —Jim Hightower “Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way provides a refreshing look at how to run an election in a grassroots people-powered way—just as the great Senator Paul Wellstone did—and win.” —Representative Tim Walz (MN-01), Camp Wellstone alum Jeff Blodgett is executive director of Wellstone Action and has twenty-five years of community organizing, issue advocacy, and political management experience. He spent thirteen years as a senior aide, adviser, and campaign manager to the late Senator Paul Wellstone, running all three of his election campaigns. Blodgett has worked on dozens of other election campaigns and issue advocacy efforts, including Amy Klobuchar’s successful election to the U.S. Senate in 2006. Bill Lofy is a senior trainer for Wellstone Action’s national training programs. In addition to working for Wellstone for six years as a press aide and campaign organizer, he has worked on campaigns at the local, state, and presidential levels, including managing the 2006 coordinated campaign for the Vermont Democratic Party and the 2000 Minnesota Bradley for President campaign. He is the editor of Politics the Wellstone Way: How to Elect Progressive Candidates and Win on Issues (Minnesota, 2005) and the author of Paul Wellstone: The Life of a Passionate Progressive. 304 pages | 18 b&w photos | 7 x 10 | 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Running to Win: Qualities of Good Candidates and Managers Acknowledgments |
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$22.95 paper