> Our starting point is the realization that any leader worth her salt wants as much power as she can get, and to keep it for as long as possible. Managing the

> Our starting point is the realization that any leader worth her salt wants as much power as she can get, and to keep it for as long as possible. Managing the interchangeables, influentials, and essentials to that end is the act, art, and science of governing. What a cynical starting point. It's just basic Machiavelli, but gussied up with modern-sounding language and fairly basic Realpolitik thinking thrown in. It's incredibly narrow-minded too. There were actual philosopher kings and political thinkers and democracies outside our current zeitgeist. Nevermind that some systems actually have term limits, constitutional limitations on power, and lo and behold, some people actually leave office when voted out or their term ends. Maybe the book is better, but I have trouble reading this with such a fumbling start.