Hardball: The Political Bible of the 21st Century

The most identified rule that I liked was It's Not Who You Know, It's Who You Get To Know. The lesson is learning all you can about your opponents and retaining the information to determine the connections between all of the constituents. This is very beneficial to the person because they can “get in” with the older, more established members of government. The closer one is to the more established members, the easier and more successful a person will be in their climb to the top. Networking, as this “climbing” is important in all occupations, but networking benefits politicians the most. Sarah Palin is currently holding press conferences and making statements against the new Health Reform. Her opinion, is that the new reform will have “death panels” that will decide if a person is “worthy” enough to live or not. There are rumors that Sarah Palin is thinking of running for President in 2012. If that is true, she is most likely trying to outreach into the Republican community to “get in” with her Republican constituents. This is necessary after the Republican’s failed attempt to reach majority after losing the presidency to Democrat Barak Obama. Networking, for Sarah Palin, would prove to be a smart move since there is so much controversy over her recent resignation from being Governor of Alaska. Another example is the Town Hall meetings. Democratic law makers are holding town hall meetings to “connect” and listen to the people. The crowd, at the meetings, consists of 70% random lottery. This showcases networking in the sense that the lawmakers are trying to connect with the people and inform them on the health care reform, but most of the people in the meetings feel that they aren’t getting anywhere. Learning all you can about a person is beneficial in the political world. Sarah Palin shows that making statements against the opposing political party and their views gets you attention which in return increases support and dissent. Sarah Palin takes her support and networks with people to establish relationship that she hopes will be beneficial if she decides to run for president in 2012.