BEAT THE INCUMBENT

Perron, a veteran political consultant, offers tested methods for defeating incumbents in this nonfiction work.

“This book is about winning elections,” the author declares at the outset as he emphasizes the importance of vibrant campaigns to “the heart and soul of a democracy.” Perron is a TEDx speaker and campaign strategist with almost two decades of experience advising politicians around the world. Central to the book’s thesis is that whether one is running for city council or president of the United States, there are fundamental strategies and best practices that remain constant. It’s a step-by-step guidebook of proven tactics, centered on how to challenge incumbent politicians. Its first chapters call on prospective candidates to conduct an “honest assessment” of the incumbent’s vulnerabilities, recognizing that those in power have a major advantage as known quantities (“voters don’t know what a challenger would really do if elected”). Drawing lessons from Ronald Reagan’s 1980 victory over Jimmy Carter, among other incumbent defeats, the author argues that turning an election into a referendum can successfully focus attention away from an untested record. Other chapters provide practical tips on messaging, the nuances of “Selling Change,” and crisis management. While discussing the roles of social media and new tools, such as artificial intelligence, the book argues that the “strategic fundamentals of election campaigns” remain the same, even as technology changes. One such fundamental, he says, is a “crystal-clear” knowledge of exactly how many votes a candidate needs to win, and where those votes are.

Perron’s book blends a pragmatic, down-to-earth writing style with scholarly research, based in part on the author’s own experiences running campaigns, as well as a model that he first published in his 2010 doctoral dissertation.It contains ample textbox vignettes, charts, and tables that make for an enjoyable and visually appealing reading experience. The author emphasizes that his tips will work in any campaign against an incumbent, so he draws not only on examples from U.S. presidential elections, but also from contests in France, Ukraine, Brazil, and other places where the author has consulted for politicians. This international outlook, and its attention to elections from the municipal to the federal level, make this a unique contribution to the literature. Partisan and ideologically driven readers may not always appreciate the author’s detached approach that, for instance, never reveals his personal political beliefs or even the names of his clients. Instead, Perron centers on traits and strategies that will work for challengers of all political persuasions. This nonpartisan approach, however, does not mean the book’s perspective is jaded in any way. Indeed, a central theme of the book is its warning to would-be politicians that “the lows as a candidate are really low,” and that challengers need “enough humility to make good decisions.” At just over 200 pages in length, this is an efficient, concise manual that gives aspiring candidates, strategists, and even casual political junkies plenty of stimulating insights into the traits that successful challengers share.

A convincing and well-documented set of winning electoral strategies.