If Ari Gold from ‘Entourage‘ was a political operative, he would be Rahm Emanuel. Not at all coincidentally, Ari Gold is actually based on Rahm Emanuel’s brother, Ari Emanuel. But if you are reading the book, “The Thumpin‘”, you’ll have a hard time not hearing Ari Gold’s voice any time Rahm Emanuel is quoted. His personality and vocabulary are a dead ringer for his brother’s small screen caricature. But his will power and tactics were a part of the Democratic party’s landslide victory in the 2006 mid-term congressional elections.

The book is written by Naftali Bendavid who was a Chicago Tribune reporter who had total access to Emanuel during the 2006 campaign. I decided to check the book out since Rahm Emanuel was recently named Chief of Staff for Barack Obama’s administration and to be honest, I had never heard of Rahm Emanuel before that news broke.

The Democrats had been getting there asses collectively kicked in elections for quite some time before Emanuel took over the DCCC shortly after the 2004 elections. In 2006, that all changed with the Dems taking over the House of Representatives and the Senate (NY Senator Chuck Schumer was responsible for the Democratic Senate campaigns). George W. Bush’s lack of popularity and Emanuel’s tactics were both responsible for turning the tables of the political landscape. But more importantly for the Democrat’s, Emanuel brought a certain toughness to a party that acted like a bunch of pussies for so long and he showed them how to win. If your not interested in politics then you will not be interested in this book. But if you are a bit of a political junkie, it’s worth the read.