RUN TO WIN

Tips on running for office from the president of Emily’s List, a political action committee aiming to elect “pro-choice Democratic women…at every level of government across the country.”

Schriock believes that any woman can become a good political candidate “if this is the right time, if you have the right motivation, and if you’re in the right situation to get the job done well.” In her first book, she offers a useful but lackluster crash course for aspiring officeholders with the help of Reynolds, the vice president of communications at Emily’s List, and a foreword by Kamala Harris, whom the organization has endorsed. Schriock covers the basics of running a campaign—from deciding whether to run to regrouping after a defeat—in a narrative that’s part self-help, part paean to Emily’s List, and part memoir of her life on political beachheads, which have ranged from her quest to become a high school student body president [in Butte, Montana] to her work as the campaign manager for Al Franken’s 2008 Senate race. The author gets off to a rocky start when she lists seven “ingredients for a successful woman leader”—e.g., “integrity,” “energy,” and “passion”—without noting that any leader, regardless of gender, should possess those traits. She’s on firmer ground when she gives practical tips on money (candidates can use campaign funds for related child care expenses) or telling “your story” to voters. Unfortunately, the text abounds with corporate bromides (“Knowing how to delegate is the key to being a successful leader”) and clichés (“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”) that may dampen would-be candidates’ enthusiasm. Readers already committed to run for office will find some nuggets of wisdom, but others can find livelier, if slightly less comprehensive, advice on campaigning in Adrienne Martini’s Somebody’s Gotta Do It and Christine Pelosi’s Campaign Boot Camp 2.0.

A helpful but uninspired primer on how women can run creditable political campaigns.