Customer Reviews

Dispatches from the War Room: In the Trenches with Five Extraordinary Leaders

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So much at stake. So many smart but power-driven people doing peculiar (sometimes stupid) things when the stakes are high. This is the kind of first-hand account of real life adventure stories that will interest even the apolitical (and who's really not thinking about the machinations of government and politics in this bail-out era?) I've found myself quoting Greenberg's book when talking with friends about politics today. He has an astute way of describing specific political actions that help me understand some of the choices candidates make - and the people who work for them and fund them.

Whether or not you like the world leaders profiled in this book, it provides a fascinating look inside the campaign process and then the challenges of leading once elected. Greenberg is pretty reflective about the benefits and limitations of polls in both campaigns and governing. He's even critical, at times, of the role consultants and research play. Regardless, it provides real insight into how leaders consider and sometimes reject public opinion and has real application to our ongoing politics.

The chapter on Nelson Mandela is particularly compelling. Not only is Greenberg deeply steeped in South African politics - his academic work was focused on South Africa and he was banned by the government for his writings against apartheid - but learning how Mandela made the transition from fighting the government to governing, using insights from public opinion research is incredibly interesting. It also just reinforces what a brilliant man Mandela is, as he is able to adjust to changing realities.

This book provides a fascinating look at the sausage factory of political message making. The author describes how he helped shape the message of several significant political campaigns, including those for Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Tony Blair. The lesson to be learned from this book is that while "what you say," is very important, "how you say it," is important as well. A popular political idea, poorly expressed, is not going to do nearly as well with voters as a popular political idea that is well expressed. The author describes how he helps his clients find "what to say," or at least what to emphasize, and "how to say it," in a way that voters will be most likely to accept. Interesting stuff if this subject is your cup of tea.

Stanley Greenberg is one of, if not the best, pollsters around. When you read this book you realize that pollsters are not just statisticians, but they can be intensely passionate about their candidates. And Greenberg is. You can feel his awe - and be jealous of his incredible position - in the room with Nelson Mandela, as the former prisoner became president.
Greenberg makes the case for the way great pollsters don't just measure opinion to get the proverbial "finger in the wind" for flimsy politicians. Instead you see how the pollster helps candidates to truly understand some of the deep needs and hopes of the populace. Can those feelings be manipulated? Sure, but in the first place, Greenberg shows how his great client-candidates came to UNDERSTAND the people's needs and hopes. And there is surely value in that.
I've worked numerous campaigns and worked with pollsters and strategists. I understood, after reading Dispatches, many of the things I just didn't get while I was in the middle of it.

Honestly, I'm not just saying this because he's my dad. I've tried to read all his books and this is the first that not only did I finish but I couldn't put down. Getting an inside view of these compelling leaders as candidates and then as they try to implement their agendas was fascinating and very relevant.

Greenberg's been involved in some the world most important elections over the last 30 years. While this book is fun and fascinating for anyone interested in juicy war room stories, Greenberg's Dispatches is also highly relevant in the world we're living in today in Obama's America. It's practical in that it offers insight for world leaders, but also hopeful, giving credit to leaders and voters alike. Shows that we all want the best, and our leaders have the people's interest at heart always, in the face of adversity.

Anyone can read this book. It is not laden with poll numbers, thankfully. If you have a particular interest in one of the key leaders Greenberg covers (Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Ehud Barak, Tony Blair and Goni Sanchez de Lozada) each chapter deals with a different leader on their own, so you also do not have to read the book from cover-to-cover. Each story Greenberg tells offers fresh insight on the leader, not necessarily the same old stories we've heard before.

This book proofs the Lévi-Strauss's theories. "Briefly, he considers culture a system of symbolic communication, to be investigated with methods that others have used more narrowly in the discussion of novels, political speeches, sports, and movies."

The metaphor of the war room certainly is appropriate in the case of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, one of Greenberg's heros. Unfortunately, Sanchez de Lozada's war was against his own people. He is a currently a fugitive from Bolivian justice in Miami. He is responsible for the death of about 75 demonstrators and the injury of another 400 when his troops opened fire on crowds. Greenberg's judgment is deeply and fatally flawed. Aside from the fact that he amorally lauds this criminal, his inescapable subtext that politics should be sold as a product and that brand trumps content is nauseating.

Greenberg bores as he name-drops. Nothing new here. This is pure propaganda. It's not worth a dollar at the garage sale.