How to get into politics Forum

[JDJohnP21]

As you have probably seen from my previous posts, I am very interested In law and politics. My goal is to either go into Biglaw for a couple years, and then run for office, or head straight into politics. Here are my questions.
1. If I wanted to go straight into politics, what would the career path look like?( my ultimate goal is becoming a US Senator) I have heard a good place to start is in a Congressmans office as a staffer, what's the next step? What do you do after you've served as a staffer?
2. Would a JD/MPP from a top law school help me? What could I do with a JDCA/MPP?
Thanks

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

Powdered wigs and bloodlines to the Founders are a plus

[jbagelboy]

sincere answer that I've seen work w/o family name/connections or unbelievable wealth is through major metropolitan political machines: elite UG -> elite law program -> art III clerkship(s) (1-2 years) -> top lit firm (2-3 years) -> AUSA at DOJ (4-6 years) -> serve on appointed committee or lead important task force -> run for state rep -> run for state senator -> run for congress.

you need to be good looking, incredibly hard working and make a lot of close, important friends while serving in government to make the AUSA to elected office maneuver

[lymenheimer]

Step 1: Go to PHC
Step 2: Go to HYS
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit!

[SoCalTacos]

Your ability to connect with voters in your home district will matter far more than who you clerk for, what schools you attend, etc...

I would focus on establishing yourself in your local community. Obama won because of his community ties in the South Side of Chicago, not HLS.

[yomisterd]

sincere answer that I've seen work w/o family name/connections or unbelievable wealth is through major metropolitan political machines: elite UG -> elite law program -> art III clerkship(s) (1-2 years) -> top lit firm (2-3 years) -> AUSA at DOJ (4-6 years) -> serve on appointed committee or lead important task force -> run for state rep -> run for state senator -> run for congress.

you need to be good looking, incredibly hard working and make a lot of close, important friends while serving in government to make the AUSA to elected office maneuver

Is this actually common? I've seen it work out for some folks, but not many. Most people who get into politics without connections or wealth do it through a genuine connection to a community, in which case attending a state flagship may be the best bet at becoming a state rep/senator --> Congress (in combination with a ton of luck and networking).

[jbagelboy]

sincere answer that I've seen work w/o family name/connections or unbelievable wealth is through major metropolitan political machines: elite UG -> elite law program -> art III clerkship(s) (1-2 years) -> top lit firm (2-3 years) -> AUSA at DOJ (4-6 years) -> serve on appointed committee or lead important task force -> run for state rep -> run for state senator -> run for congress.

you need to be good looking, incredibly hard working and make a lot of close, important friends while serving in government to make the AUSA to elected office maneuver

Is this actually common? I've seen it work out for some folks, but not many. Most people who get into politics without connections or wealth do it through a genuine connection to a community, in which case attending a state flagship may be the best bet at becoming a state rep/senator --> Congress (in combination with a ton of luck and networking).

Yea that's definitely true. There's a difference between becoming a successful state politician by building a ground game and intense involvement in the community, and networking through a political machine. As I said, the latter applies to breaking into the political scene in a major met area (NY/Boston/DC/Chicago) without any kind of prior influence or visibility.

[Nekrowizard]

Have you considered being a community organizer in Chicago?

[Fiero85]

I'm assuming OP is already in college or a graduate, but I agree with the advice that for many states one should consider the state mega school(s) for college.

Like in Ohio: summa cum laude from tOSU --> HLS --> [remaining progression listed by jbagels above] might be even better than doubling down on HYP before HLS or another elite law school. Especially from a cost/risk management perspective since in-state is nothing compared to elite UG tuitions.

Or Missouri: 4.0 from Mizzou, etc...

But also jbagels is probably right about big east coast metro areas and their respective states like NY, NJ, MA, etc. being more into the elite UG route.

I didn't initially think about state flagship vs. elite school for LS, but I suppose the smaller the state or the further away from T14 schools, the safer of a move this would be. If your state doesn't have a T14 of its own, I could see this making sense.

Although there are non-law school ways of going about this which might be a better idea (and although I always like the sound of "don't go to law school if you don't wanna be a lawyer"), I don't know enough about them to comment.

[trebekismyhero]

Best way to get into politics is go work on a campaign or work for your congressman. Then run for office yourself. That is the path your boy Paul Ryan followed and actually is probably the largest group of Congressmen. Jbagel is right about being a AUSA, but that is a smaller group. This is just for Congressmen.

If you want to be a Senator TCR is be really rich.

[Kinky John]

G/G

[Well Hung Jury]

How to make it