The Thumpin': How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to Be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

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President Bush colorfully characterized the Democrats' victory in the 2006 elections as a "thumpin'." Chicago Tribune reporter Bendavid recalls the long and arduous campaign to retake Congress under the leadership of Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel, a brash and energetic politician. Only a second-term congressman, Emanuel was tapped to run the campaign, recruit candidates, raise money, and craft strategy. Known for his hard-knuckle brand of politics, Emanuel identified 50 candidates and began the steep climb to unravel the conventional wisdom that Republicans--the conservative branch no less--would dominate American politics for another generation. Emanuel's criterion for the 50 was not that they could pass a litmus test on issues of abortion and gun control but that they could win. Bendavid traces Emanuel's campaign from early doubts that the Democrats could retake the House to the triumph of seating the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who first identified Emanuel for the job as head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. This book is as exciting as the election itself, with the added benefit of behind-the-scenes details. Vanessa Bush
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Review

“In this remarkably reported and beautifully written book, Naftali Bendavid provides a vivid, no-holds-barred account of how one man—through force of willpower, drive, and vision—led Democrats to respect and power in Washington after years of Republican dominance. With unprecedented access, Bendavid puts you inside the room and on the campaign trail with Rahm Emanuel, the fiery leader of the Democratic effort, as he cajoles and curses his way to an improbable sweep of the House in 2006. This is a gripping story, tautly told, of a pivotal election that dramatically changed the power structure in the nation's capital and put significant limits on President Bush's agenda.” 
—Jan Crawford Greenburg, legal correspondent, ABC News, and author of Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court

“Naftali Bendavid got amazing access for a political reporter, and in The Thumpin’ he puts it to effective use. His book provides a revealing look at how modern political campaigns are actually run. His portrait of Rahm Emanuel—warts and all—is insightful and often entertaining.” —Michael Isikoff, author of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385523289
• ISBN-13: 978-0385523288
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #195,696 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Job Well Done, but there's more to the story, August 19, 2007

By	John O'Brien "JCOB3" (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love political history and insider accounts of campaigns. This is a bit of both. Unfortunately, it is also a hymn to the brilliance that is Rahm Emanuel (in the eyes of the author).

While it does offer behind-the-scenes, first-hand accounts of the machinations and strategies of the DCCC 2006 campaigns, the author seems to feel that Rahm could do no wrong.

For example, he completely whitewashes the fact that Rahm and the Democrats knew about the Foley scandal even before the Republicans (p. 174) and he accepts without comment that the "Six for '06" agenda happened in "100 hours" (p. 207).

Evaluating the strategy presented in the book, Rahm's keys to the successful 2006 elections seem to be:
(1) Tireless energy; work every day and never let up.
(2) Focus on the goal at hand -- win control of the House; never let anything, whatever the consideration, deflect you from that goal.
(3) Never rest on your laurels; even when you are ahead, push push push until the votes are actually in.
(4) Push everyone around you to be as relentless as you are in pursuit of your goal.

These are good habits to have no matter what side of the aisle you are on and the book demonstrates them in rich detail.

Interesting note: RNCC head Tom Cole (R-OK) is telling his staffers to read this book so that they can see that the Democrats owed a lot of their victory to Republican screw-ups rather than Democrat invincibility. (A fact the author admits at the end of the book on p. 208, third paragraph.)

Overall, a good look at the election and the strategy involved, but it would have been nice to include the mistakes that Rahm made and not present just an encomium to his abilities.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother reading, October 30, 2009

By	Mickey D (New York) - See all my reviews

This book was not worth the paper it was printed on, there are many better books on this subject that provide much more value

13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cool look at the man who finally led the Dems to victory; Rahm is my new hero, June 3, 2007

By	Mark Greenbaum (South Orange, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This cool little book chronicles the work of the man who helped lead the Democrats out of the wilderness and into the promised land of the majority -- Rahm Emanuel. Granted unlimited access to the inner workings of the DCCC and Rahm himself during 2005 and 2006, the book paints a delightful picture of how Rahm was able to help catapult the Dems back into power. I have always been a big fan of Rahm, and knew a good deal about him before reading this book -- he's from Chicago, he was a top aide to Bill Clinton, he uses profanity like you or I use the word "hi", etc -- but being a political junkie, this book looked great and I bought it soon after I heard of it. It is a very quick, fun read, and with the tremendous access Bendavid was given, the book is full of awesome anecdotes about Rahm and the long campaign.

Around when Rham took the reins of the DCCC in 2005, things looked bleak for Democrats. Since 2000 when George Bush edged out Al Gore, the national Democrats have been stuck on the canvas, basically too stunned and too scared to get up and fight the GOP. This problem was compounded by the equally-brutal loses in 2002 and 2004. Coming into the 2006 cycle, Nancy Pelosi wisely tapped the second-term congressman to run the Dems' House campaign arm (the DCCC) to end the bleeding. She believed that the Dems needed their own Tom DeLay -- and ruthless brute dedicated solely to winning -- to finally beat the GOP. She couldn't have been more right. For years, the GOP had been nasty and ruthless in doing whatever it took to win elections. Forgetting Tom DeLay the man, no one can ignore the electoral success he helped engineer cycle after cycle. Rahm is just as smart and just as ruthless, and from the moment he took the helm of the DCCC he was relentless in setting the groundwork to win as many seats as possible.

This singular focus is the book's central theme. All of Rahm's nasty behavior, outbursts, and strategic focus all go back to his goal of trying to win as many seats as he could to get to the magic 15 he needed. Whether it be his many f-bombs at his many enemies, his lack of sentimentality on individuals who weren't top candidates, or his attacks on DNC chair Howard Dean for foolishly squandering resources away from the congressional races, Rahm was consistent in his pursuit of bringing the Dems back into power, and seemed to never stray from his goal.

Besides Rahm himself, the most striking thing in the book was the pace of the campaign itself. It is amazing how Rahm and his staff were able to keep up their 150% pace for nearly two years. The book notes at various points how the campaign had taken its toll on Rahm himself -- weight loss, fatigue, extended separation for his wife and three young children. The pace of it all can be best characterized as frantically organized, I guess.

The Thumpin' is a very interesting book for political junkies, and it provides a lot of inner details and dialogue for what was going on during the congressional campaign in 2006. I think even critics of Rahm should read the book, if for no other reason than to try to gain an appreciation for his hard work. A lot of liberals have criticized Rahm for his tactics as well as his fights with their hero, Howard Dean. Whether or not one likes Rahm's liberal use of the f-word or his hardball treatment of candidates he judged winners or losers, it is impossible to not appreciate his results. In my opinion, he's the party's best strategist - along with Chuck Schumer - and should be given his due. Either way, this is still a really fun political book. I wish Rahm had stayed on for another term at the helm of the DCCC - to win all the remaining districts he barely lost in '06: CT-04, FL-13, NC-08, NM-01, OH-02, OH-15, WY-AL -- but after reading the book, I can understand why he wouldn't want this job again. Besides, duplicating his amazing results from 2006 may be impossible.