Campaign Boot Camp to be featured in UC Berkeley Extension class. Tuesdays, Fall 2009

Christine Pelosi’s boot camps for political candidates showcase techniques in management, message, money, and mobilization that have helped win Congress back for the Democrats and made her mother the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives!

This book tells how it’s done. Distilling best practices from well-known political figures and advocates, Pelosi focuses on seven fundamental steps to launching successful campaigns for candidates and causes. Campaign Boot Camp combines a call to public service with a concise methodology for successful involvement in participatory democracy.

Author, attorney, and activist Christine Pelosi has a lifetime of grassroots experience in politics and public policy. She has engaged in extensive voter contact, education, and mobilization efforts at the local, state, and federal levels. She has served as executive director of the California Democratic Party, deputy city attorney and assistant district attorney for the City of San Francisco, special counsel in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and chief of staff to U.S. Congressman John F. Tierney (MA-06). Since 1996, she has chaired the California Democratic Party Platform Committee and served as an elected member of the Democratic National Committee, where she co-founded the DNC Veterans and Military Families Council.

Campaign Boot Camp: Basic Training for Future Leaders emerged from her years of grassroots activism and her service as director of the AFSCME PEOPLE/New House PAC 2006 Congressional Candidates Boot Camp, which worked with over 40 challengers, 12 of whom were elected to Congress. She holds a J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law and a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. An avid baseball fan, she lives within walking distance of her beloved San Francisco Giants. Christine is married to filmmaker Peter Kaufman.

Read Christine Pelosi’s blog at huffingtonpost.com

May 18, 2010
6:30pm Pacific
425 Market Street, San Francisco
Public Service Leadership Bootcamp
10 Tuesdays * 10 Leadership Lessons
Register via UC Berkeley Extension

http://extension.berkeley.edu/cat/course2106.html

May 4, 2010
6:30pm Pacific
425 Market Street, San Francisco
Public Service Leadership Bootcamp
10 Tuesdays * 10 Leadership Lessons
Register via UC Berkeley Extension

http://extension.berkeley.edu/cat/course2106.html

April 20, 2010
6:30pm Pacific
425 Market Street, San Francisco
Public Service Leadership Bootcamp
10 Tuesdays * 10 Leadership Lessons
Register via UC Berkeley Extension

http://extension.berkeley.edu/cat/course2106.html

April 6, 2010
6:30pm Pacific
425 Market Street, San Francisco
Public Service Leadership Bootcamp
10 Tuesdays * 10 Leadership Lessons
Register via UC Berkeley Extension

http://extension.berkeley.edu/cat/course2106.html

March 30, 2010
6:30pm Pacific
425 Market Street, San Francisco
Public Service Leadership Bootcamp
10 Tuesdays * 10 Leadership Lessons
Register via UC Berkeley Extension

http://extension.berkeley.edu/cat/course2106.html

BA POLITIX REVIEW
In Christine Pelosi’s case, it’s easy to see why the apple hasn’t fallen very far from the tree
by Jeff Miller
Monday, April 21, 2008

Imagine if you will, the precociously smart little girl of a dynamic mother on the rise in Bay Area politics. This little girl, clad in her pj’s, has likely been put to bed twice but continues to sneak part way down the stairs to listen to her mom and friends discuss politics, politicians, public policy and the campaigns of the day. Now imagine that the mom in this case is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and those dinner party guests were and are some of the biggest luminaries in American Democratic Party politics. With a staircase education like that, it’s easy to see why daughter Christine Pelosi was prepared to write “Campaign Boot Camp: Basic Training for Future Leaders,” ($15.95 PoliPointPress.)

“Boot Camp” is a handy, easy-to-digest 243-page manual that lays out a hard-to-beat campaign blueprint for any brave soul considering wading into the political world. As a former San Francisco prosecutor, California Democratic Party leader and activist, Pelosi grew up watching her mom successfully take on the often sexist political establishment. She’s been given a unique front row view of campaigns that work and those that don’t. She’s become a guru of sorts whose teachings in recent years have helped elect 12 new people to Congress. Pelosi lays out the book around seven basic campaign pillars: Identifying your particular call to service; Getting to know your community and its people; Building leadership teams that will support you or the cause; Carefully defining your message; Connecting with people in a real way; Raising money and, finally, election day mobilizing strategies. Inside of each of these chapters Pelosi not only weaves her own experiences but also the experiences of such notables as Willie L. Brown Jr., Rahm Emanuel, Ronald Reagan, Ann Richards and Jim Zogby, to name just a few. One of the best aspects of this book is that it asks people to evaluate why they are seeking public office and gives them a thought-provoking “test” to take to determine their fitness for public office and public life. “Boot Camp” is as applicable to those running individual campaigns as it is to those running non-profit fund-raising efforts and ballot initiatives.

While there’s a lot of books out there that give the nuts and bolts of how to run a campaign — which Pelosi does in spades — she is careful to spend a good amount of time giving her take on why our nation — like perhaps never before in our history — needs smart, caring people to step forward and serve. Pelosi, effectively, reminds us that unless we get involved and put ourselves “out there,” we will end up getting the kind of government populated more by the ambitious, self-serving and power-hungry than by those that actually want to roll-up their sleeves and help get things fixed.

Leadership Lessons from the Campaign Trail:
Pelosi Authors Campaign Boot Camp: Basic Training for Future Leaders

“Campaign Boot Camp is a passionate call to public service—and a practical guide for
making that
service more productive. Christine Pelosi is a sharp and knowledgeable drill sergeant
looking to whip our democratic process back into shape.” Arianna Huffington

“A must-read for everyone who wants to bring change, renew hope, and revitalize our
nation.”
Former U.S. Senator Max Cleland

Attorney, author, and activist Christine Pelosi presents leadership lessons from the
campaign trail for anyone who wants to run for office, advocate for a cause, or win a
public policy issue. In Campaign Boot Camp: Basic Training for Future Leaders—A
7-Step Guide to Launching Successful Campaigns for Candidates and Causes
(Publication date: November 2007; PoliPointPress; $15.95, softcover), Pelosi uses a
boot camp model to provide practical advice and “get real” exercises so that
individual readers can integrate these leadership lessons into their own public service
efforts on political campaigns, ballot initiatives, or non-profit ventures.

Right from the stroller, Christine was campaigning with her mother, House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi. She has served candidates and party alike, and she knows like few
others about the nuts and bolts of winning in politics.

Distilling best practices from across the political spectrum, Pelosi shows aspiring
leaders how to master the fundamentals of campaigning—management, message,
money, and mobilization. She lays out a
7-step program for effective campaigning at all levels of public service, from
community initiatives to congressional races:
1. Identify your call to service
2. Know your community
3. Build your leadership teams
4. Define your message
5. Connect with people
6. Raise the money
7. Mobilize to win

Along the way, Pelosi features successful campaigners with their diverse backgrounds
and experiences. Among the public servants and political professionals quoted in the
book are: Donna Brazile, David Brock, Willie L. Brown, Jr., Max Cleland, Bill Clinton,
Andrew Cuomo, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., Rahm Emanuel, Al Gore, Mahatma
Gandhi, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kerry Kennedy, Frank Luntz, Ellen Malcolm, Gerald W.
McEntee, Markos Moulitsas, Nancy Pelosi, Carl Pope, Bill Press, Ronald Reagan, Ann
Richards, Karl Rove, Jack Valenti, Tim Walz, George F. Will, and Jim Zogby. Their
writings and practices help make Campaign Boot Camp both a helpful guide to
participatory democracy and an inspiring collective memoir.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Christine Pelosi directs the AFSCME PEOPLE/New House PAC Congressional
Candidates Boot Camp that worked with over 40 challengers in 2006, 12 of whom are
now members of Congress. Since 1996 she has chaired the California Democratic
Party Platform Committee and served as an elected member of the Democratic
National Committee, where she cofounded the DNC Veterans and Military Families
Council.

Pelosi served as deputy prosecutor in the sex crimes and child abuse unit of the San
Francisco District Attorney’s Office, as special counsel in the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, and as chief of staff for U.S. Congressman John F.
Tierney. An avid baseball fan, Pelosi resides in San Francisco within walking distance
of her beloved San Francisco Giants. She is married to filmmaker Peter Kaufman.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: please contact info@PelosiBootCamp.com;
visit www.pelosibootcamp.com; or text “bootcamp” (one word) to “elect” (35328).