Pages from the Liberal Handbook

Warren Kinsella’s new book, The War Room: Political Strategies for Business, NGOs and Anyone Who Wants to Win, is a must-read for anyone interested in political campaigning in Canada. And not just political campaigning. Kinsella is a leader among those now applying the techniques of political campaigning to the causes pursued by corporations, charitable organizations and all sorts of social movements—hence the subtitle of his book.

Warren is a wordsmith, so The War Room is an easy, breezy read, although his sporadic descents into punk-rock vulgarity can become tiresome. But then, as Warren might put it, “What the fuck does Flanagan know?”

I wish I’d had the chance to read The War Room before I became Stephen Harper’s campaign manager; it might have saved...