ontrack

I don't know about rockstardom, but to be at least moderately successful I'd offer the following: 1. Don't let coursework get in the way of your professional engagement and networking. The most successful grad students in my program were ones who made attendance at department events (guest speakers, job talks, chair-grad students meetings, etc.) and participation in professional activities a priority; the ones who were always "too busy with work for classes" (or worse -- TAing) generally haven't gone too far. 2. Attend conferences early and often. Ideally, go to one or two of the big ones (especially APSA) to observe what goes on as soon as you can, well before you're ready to start presenting. Pay out of pocket if you have to -- "I never went to conferences because my department didn't fund grad student travel" isn't going to impress a search committee. 3. Don't be obnoxious. You never know who can help or hurt your career down the line. 4. Learn how and when to say no. 5. Don't expect professors to "hold your hand" through the PhD and professionalization processes -- it's up to you to figure out when you need and ask for help, advice, and favors. 6. Never, ever piss off the department secretaries.

Which active political scientists do you cite in your literature review? And/or which current political science debate(s) does your project speak to? Once you pin down answers to those questions, you should be able to identify some programs that would be a reasonable fit for you. If the answer to one or both questions is "none," though, you might consider reframing the research or even rethinking whether political science is the discipline that will be most open to the kind of research you want to spend the rest of your life doing.

Recent tenure-track hire with a non-top-25 Ph.D. here. I'd take the OP's advice with a huge grain of salt. Depending on the kind of research you do and how well you do it, there may very well be plenty of job opportunities out there for you regardless of your pedigree. Your job prospects certainly aren't doomed just by virtue of attending a top-35 or -40 program instead of a top-10; you just might have to be a bit more proactive about networking over the next 5-8 years.