Harper's Team : Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power

In five years, Stephen Harper went from private citizen to prime minister of Canada. Tom Flanagan was his chief campaign organizer for most of that period. InHarper's Team, Flanagan tells the story of Harper's rise to power - how a small group of colleagues, with little experience in national politics, transformed themselves into the disciplined, professional campaign team that brought down Paul Martin and the Liberals. Harper's team fought four campaigns in five years: two leadership races and two national elections. Through trial and error - and determination - they learned to combine the Reform Party's strength in grassroots politics with the Progressive Conservative expertise in advertising and media relations, while simultaneously adopting the latest advances in information and communications technology.Harper's Teamis a rare insider's view of how political campaigns are planned, organized, managed, and paid for. Combining forty years of experience as an academic political scientist with five years of organizational work for Stephen Harper, Tom Flanagan offers a unique perspective on how to win power in Canada. This updated edition includes a chapter on the 2008 federal election.