| Introduction | 20 |
| Ch. 1 | Napolitan's Rules: 112 Lessons Learned From a Career in Politics | 26 |
| Ch. 2 | 50 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Next Campaign | 59 |
| Ch. 3 | Writing Your Campaign Plan | 66 |
| Ch. 4 | Hard Knocks: Lessons from Losing | 79 |
| Ch. 5 | Announcing Your Candidacy: A Successful Kickoff | 84 |
| Ch. 6 | How to Beat an Incumbent | 88 |
| Ch. 7 | Winning Tough Re-Elections With Early Media | 95 |
| Ch. 8 | War Without Blood: Military Roots of Political Strategy | 97 |
| Ch. 9 | What's in a Name? What to Do When the Candidate Has a Difficult Name | 101 |
| Ch. 10 | Campaign Self-Examinations: Taking Your Own Political Pulse | 106 |
| Ch. 11 | Last-Minute Attacks: On Offense and Defense | 115 |
| Ch. 12 | Early Voting: Impact on Campaign Strategies, Timing and Budgets | 122 |
| Ch. 13 | Reaching - and Winning - Young Voters | 127 |
| Ch. 14 | The Recount Operation | 137 |
| Ch. 15 | Database Management: One Size Does Not Fit All Campaigns | 141 |
| Ch. 16 | Database Management and the Permanent Campaign | 144 |
| Ch. 17 | Electronic Field Operations: A Case Study | 148 |
| Ch. 18 | Strategic Polling: Message and Theme Development | 154 |
| Ch. 19 | The Benchmark Poll: Your Campaign's Roadmap | 163 |
| Ch. 20 | De-bunking Polling Myths | 166 |
| Ch. 21 | Advanced Polling Techniques: Road to the Right Message | 170 |
| Ch. 22 | Polling Economy: The Piggyback Approach | 173 |
| Ch. 23 | Observing Focus Groups | 176 |
| Ch. 24 | Conducting Tracking Polls | 178 |
| Ch. 25 | Internet Surveys: Applying New Technologies to Polling Voters | 181 |
| Ch. 26 | Push Polls: What Are They? | 184 |
| Ch. 27 | Using Focus Groups: A Caution | 190 |
| Ch. 28 | Polling Pitfalls: How Survey Research Is Abused | 195 |
| Ch. 29 | Opposition Research: The Power of Information | 199 |
| Ch. 30 | Finding Your Opponent's Weaknesses | 204 |
| Ch. 31 | Using the Internet for Opposition Research | 210 |
| Ch. 32 | Setting the Record Straight | 215 |
| Ch. 33 | Balancing Discretion and Glasnost | 218 |
| Ch. 34 | Doing Opposition Research ... on Yourself | 221 |
| Ch. 35 | Targeting: Getting the Most Out of What You Have | 224 |
| Ch. 36 | New Campaign Targeting Techniques | 229 |
| Ch. 37 | Targeting Direct Mail | 237 |
| Ch. 38 | How to Predict Voter Turnout | 239 |
| Ch. 39 | Voter Targeting and Relational Database Management | 243 |
| Ch. 40 | How to Ask for Money | 248 |
| Ch. 41 | Inside Political Fundraising: Trade Secrets | 258 |
| Ch. 42 | Gearing Up Your Finance Committee | 263 |
| Ch. 43 | Always Say "Thank You" | 270 |
| Ch. 44 | Sponsoring Fundraising Events: A Checklist | 273 |
| Ch. 45 | Fundraising Events: Dollars in the Details | 276 |
| Ch. 46 | Getting the Most Out of Your Professional Fundraiser | 279 |
| Ch. 47 | Eight Cardinal Rules of Effective Fundraising Letters | 282 |
| Ch. 48 | The Oliver North Story: How a Senate Candidate Raised $20 Million Through Direct Mail | 287 |
| Ch. 49 | Direct Mail Fundraising: The Road Home | 293 |
| Ch. 50 | Secret of PAC Fundraising: Discipline | 296 |
| Ch. 51 | The PAC Approach: How to Get Money from Political Action Committees | 300 |
| Ch. 52 | Post-Election Cleanup: Paying Your Campaign Debts | 304 |
| Ch. 53 | Advice for First-Time Campaign Managers | 310 |
| Ch. 54 | A Campaign Manager's Guide to Success: 10 Winning Tips | 313 |
| Ch. 55 | Keeping Campaign Managers ... From Behaving Badly | 316 |
| Ch. 56 | Candidate Scheduling: 17 Rules of the Road | 318 |
| Ch. 57 | Computer Conferences: Managing the Campaign Process | 324 |
| Ch. 58 | Allocating Campaign Resources: Linear Programming | 327 |
| Ch. 59 | Petition Circulating: Your Legal Rights | 334 |
| Ch. 60 | Direct Mail: The Tactical Edge | 340 |
| Ch. 61 | Precision Bombing: Direct Mail Attacks | 344 |
| Ch. 62 | TV vs. Direct Mail: A Campaign Cost Comparison | 352 |
| Ch. 63 | Doing Mail in Small Campaigns: Practical Tips | 356 |
| Ch. 64 | Humanizing Mailers With Photos | 359 |
| Ch. 65 | TV Ad Production: A Political Campaign Primer | 363 |
| Ch. 66 | How to Write Scripts for Political TV Ads | 373 |
| Ch. 67 | Attack Ads: Are There Any Rules? | 376 |
| Ch. 68 | Attack Ads: Protecting Against Viewer Backlash | 379 |
| Ch. 69 | Radio Spots That Pop | 382 |
| Ch. 70 | Avid: The TV Spot Dream Machine | 384 |
| Ch. 71 | Good Cinematography Means Better Campaign Ads | 388 |
| Ch. 72 | Documentary Evidence: Mass Product videos and DVDs | 392 |
| Ch. 73 | Effective Ad Production: A TV Spot Checklist | 397 |
| Ch. 74 | Campaign Ads: Can They Be on the Level? | 399 |
| Ch. 75 | Trends in Political Media Buying | 405 |
| Ch. 76 | Cable TV Spots: Reaching Swing Voters | 408 |
| Ch. 77 | Cable Spot Buying Strategies | 412 |
| Ch. 78 | Campaign Promotional Materials: Stickers, Signs and Other Items | 416 |
| Ch. 79 | Your Campaign Logo | 420 |
| Ch. 80 | Campaign Signs: Get on the Stick | 422 |
| Ch. 81 | Newspaper Ads: An Underrated Campaign Tool | 427 |
| Ch. 82 | Five Tips for Better Political Newsletters | 430 |
| Ch. 83 | Making Better Speeches | 434 |
| Ch. 84 | Words of Advice: 20 Ways to Improve Your Speeches | 437 |
| Ch. 85 | On the Stump: Fundamentals of a Campaign Speech | 440 |
| Ch. 86 | How to Work a Room | 442 |
| Ch. 87 | Door to Door Campaigning | 448 |
| Ch. 88 | Writing Great Speeches: Seven Tips | 457 |
| Ch. 89 | Picking a Media Trainer | 462 |
| Ch. 90 | Ten Common Mistakes Novice Candidates Make | 464 |
| Ch. 91 | Mass Media Politics: Historic Perspective | 470 |
| Ch. 92 | Effective Press Releases | 475 |
| Ch. 93 | Doing Media Interviews | 478 |
| Ch. 94 | Newspaper Endorsements: How to Get Them | 480 |
| Ch. 95 | Crisis Management in Campaigns | 482 |
| Ch. 96 | Do It Yourself: Sound Bites | 487 |
| Ch. 97 | Handling Press Interviews: 20 Do's and Don'ts | 489 |
| Ch. 98 | Damage Control: Preparing for the Unexpected on the Campaign Trail | 491 |
| Ch. 99 | How to Get on the Radio: Big Earned Media Campaign Opportunity | 501 |
| Ch. 100 | Winning the Earned Media Game: A New Campaign Model | 506 |
| Ch. 101 | Citizen Leader Programs: How to Build a Grassroots Support Network | 512 |
| Ch. 102 | Grassroots Politics: How the NRA Utilizes Volunteers | 516 |
| Ch. 103 | Smart Voter Contact | 522 |
| Ch. 104 | Volunteer Recruitment | 527 |
| Ch. 105 | Is Your Campaign Volunteer-Friendly? | 533 |
| Ch. 106 | Precinct Organization: From the Ground Up | 538 |
| Ch. 107 | How Technology is Making Telephone Campaigning More Effective | 543 |
| The New Telephone Contact Center | |
| The 4 T's of Telephone Contact | |
| Magic Combination in the Age of Access | |
| Ch. 108 | Hiring the Right Telephone Consultants and Vendors | 556 |
| Ch. 109 | Automated Calls: A Case Study | 563 |
| Ch. 110 | Building Relationships With Voters | 567 |
| Ch. 111 | Phone Contact Programs and Good Data | 570 |
| Ch. 112 | Designing Lively Web Sites | 576 |
| Ch. 113 | Banner Ads: Go Where the Ducks Are | 581 |
| Ch. 114 | Banner Ads: Voter Outreach Tools | 584 |
| Ch. 115 | Six Best Practices for Campaign Web Sites | 588 |
| Ch. 116 | Permission Marketing: New Campaign Tool | 590 |
| Ch. 117 | Computer Telephony: New Campaign Solution | 594 |
| Ch. 118 | Announcement Sites | 596 |
| Ch. 119 | E-Mail: A Political Caution | 601 |
| Ch. 120 | Secrets of Online Fundraising | 604 |
| Ch. 121 | State of the Art: Internet Roundtable | 610 |
| Ch. 122 | Final Countdown: Getting Out Your Vote | 619 |
| Ch. 123 | Final Countdown: Five-Day GOTV Hour by Hour | 625 |
| Ch. 124 | Final Countdown: The 200 for 20 Plan | 629 |
| Ch. 125 | Final Countdown: Crisis Control | 631 |
| Ch. 126 | Final Countdown: A Checklist | 636 |
| Ch. 127 | A Step-by-Step GOTV Plan | 638 |
| Ch. 128 | Increasing Turnout with Signs and Volunteers | 644 |
| Ch. 129 | Ask the Campaign Doctor: Practical Advice on a Range of Topics | 650 |
