Prizewinning journalists John Harwood and Gerald F. Seib
show how today’s Washington power game really works, through
stories of people who are making a difference on
Pennsylvania Avenue, America’s power street. These new power
brokers, some of whom are rarely seen and are largley
unknown, have figured out how to make their voices heard,
and how to get things done, amid the complexities of today’s
gridlocked Washington. With unprecedented access to
Washington insiders, and with deep insight into the unspoken
rules of the road in the capital, Harwood and Seib explain
why progress is so difficult and illuminate what it takes to
succeed in the high stakes game of politics.
Pennsylvania Avenue, the 1.2-mile stretch between the White
House and the Capitol, is where the influential and
ambitious congregate. Through stories of party strategists,
money men, policy-makers, fixers, socialites, lobbyists,
spinners, deal-makers, and more, Harwood and Seib explore
the great political transformations that have altered in a
fundamental way the relationship between Americans and their
government. A new class of politician and radically
different ways of conducting business now exist in
Washington. Harwood and Seib showcase such master players as
Ken Duberstein (the Fixer), a onetime aide to President
Ronald Reagan turned superlobbyist, whose contacts and
insider knowledge help clients sidestep Avenue jam-ups;
Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein (the Businessman),
a new breed of power broker who pioneered the age of “big
money” in Washington; Rahm Emanuel
(the Democratic Strategist), whose aggressive fundraising
and crisis-room campaign enabled the Democrats to retake
Congress in 2006; Debbie Wasserman Schultz (the Rising
Star), a first-term Democratic representative from Florida
whose meteoric ascent in the House has earned her
influential allies as well as critics; Hilary Rosen (the
Advocate), a former entertainment industry lobbyist who
skillfully reframed the debate about same-sex marriage; and
more.
Inspiring and wonderfully written, Pennsylvania Avenue takes
us inside America’s center of influence to show how our
government really functions, and the insiders who make
things happen.