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The Washington Post has noticed Gov. Bob Ehrlich (MD) has a fondness for the word " obvious." Lots of politicians lean on certain verbal crutches, especially as they endure a seemingly endless succession of speeches and public appearances. President Ronald Reagan used the word "renew" all the time -- "renewed strength, renewed vigor, renewed vision" -- the professor recalled. For President Richard Nixon, the recycled phrase was, "It would be easy to do X, and that's why we do Y."
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San Antonio
 Greetings from San Antonio, TX! I'm here training some top-notch students with the Republican Party of Texas. Of course, I've found some time to check out the famous River Walk, as well. I've been to San Antonio once before -- but it was a quick business trip. I was literally in and out (to give a dinner speech). Having gotten to see a bit more of it this time around, I must say it's a very cool town! I even got to see the Alamo.  On another note, there's a possibility I will be appearing on Connected Coast to Coast with Ron Reagan & Monica Crowley (MSNBC) on Monday at Noon. I received an email invitation today asking me to appear. But because I was speaking, I didn't get back to them for about two hours (my past experience is that you either get their call immediately -- or they book someone else). In any event, we shall see. If I'm on, I will let you know asap.
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Internet Down
Sorry for the slowness of the posts. The internet is down at Campaign Leadership Company. Hopefully, it will be back up soon!
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Check out my new article over at Personal Democracy Forum ...
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He Who Risks Much Gains Much
Chuck Todd chided some potential '08 presidential candidates for wanting to sit out the '06 elections on NationalJournal.com. Here's an excerpt: For some handicappers, the hesitance to roll the dice on 2006 will be a sign they don't have the chops to win the presidency. Take a look at every past president and you can find that one campaign where they took the gamble. For George W. Bush, it was the 1994 Texas governor's race where some thought he was risking whatever political future he might have had by running against a popular incumbent with job approval ratings regularly in the 60s. Bill Clinton was the ultimate risk taker, first with his unsuccessful bid for Congress in 1974 and later by not "waiting his turn" to run for attorney general and then
governor of Arkansas. Ronald Reagan could have easily done the establishment thing in 1976 and not challenged Gerald Ford , but would that have made him such a strong candidate in 1980? Jimmy Carter had plenty of people tell him he had no chance at the presidency in 1976 and instead he found a new path (the Iowa caucuses). Even Richard Nixon showed his gambling streak with his 1962 run for California governor. That should be evidence enough to our six current gun-shy politicians that there is life after losing an election.
Fear of failure is not a reason for avoiding a potentially winning campaign. The only way to win a seat is to enter the race!
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Workers of the World, Break Up!
 The political ramifications of the three unions leaving the AFL-CIO leave Republicans salivating and Democrats making desperate cries for unity. Jesse Jackson made an appearance at the AFL-CIO convention warning delegates about the "anti-civil rights, anti-labor rights Republicans." Here's the Washington Post story. In the second to last paragraph, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard L. Trumpka announced that the federation might raise dues. Will they raise dues by 1/3 to keep the same $120 million budget? There are other ways to balance that budget: like giving less to 527 organizations. But the AFL-CIO would never trust its members to give to the candidate of their own choosing. Republicans have a huge opportunity to make head-way with a group of voters that has traditionally been a monolithic vote for Democrats.
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Hillary's a Moderate?
 Senator Hillary Clinton pulled a page out of her husband's political textbook by assuming a leadership position with the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a group of Democrat centrists. Former President Bill Clinton once led the group when he was governor of Arkansas. The Washington Post today reports that Clinton's role in looking for a "more positive policy agenda for the party" has angered many liberals, traditionally very loyal to Sen. Clinton. This is one in a series of moves she has made to appear more moderate, and potentially more acceptable, to a broader range of voters nationally. As a shrewd politician, she knows how important that liberal base is--as the main voters in a Democratic primary. Before she announces for the '08 run, watch for her appealing to her liberal base again.
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Children are a Political Gift
 Even the President couldn't help but smirk at the antics of John Roberts III, the son of Supreme Court Justice nominee John G. Roberts, Jr. Besides his strong academic and legal background, Judge Roberts has something else working in his favor: his two young children. Children, especially young children, immediately conjur up positive feelings from the press and public. Even, or perhaps, especially, if they show their unawareness of their surroundings like John Roberts did Tuesday night. Young children immediatley create  images of a politician as a family man. While Judge Roberts is not running for public office, Josephine, 5, and John III, 4, can only help him in the eyes of the press and public. The general public identifies with a candidate who balances work and family. The 2004 Democrat Vice-Presidential nominee, John Edwards, found his photogenic family worked to his advantage. In the rare case of a president with young children, the president has a uniqe opportunity to form an immediate connection with the American public. John F  . Kennedy and his whole family had enormous popularity with the public and the press, partly because his young family was so endearing. To not tax his children or appear to use them only for his goals, a candidate should wisely choose times to mention his or her children, tell true family stories, or have the whole family attend events.
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McClellan Stays "On Message"
 Scott McClellan has been criticized a lot lately (by the press) for staying on message. While his discipline hasn't pleased the press, it has allowed the President to control the agenda. This July 11 press briefing ought to be studied by aspiring press secretaries ...
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I Heart Huckabee
 David Broder wrote an article on the presidential prospects for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He noted that Huckabee and Democrat Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack have consciously followed former President Bill Clinton's path to the White House, with Vilsack chairing the Democratic Leadership Council and Huckabee leading the Education Commission of the States and the National Governors Association next year. Between his national leadership positions and his jokes about being "another man from Hope," Governor Huckabee is positioning himself as a serious  candidate for 2008. Governors can easily portray themselves as outsiders to voters who are unhappy with the direction and speed, or lack thereof, in government action. Four of the last five presidents were governors. The last senator to move to the Oval Office was John F. Kennedy. Huckabee's book about his 100-pound weight loss won't hurt, either. It's one more thing that gives him positive national attention. Like Bill Clinton in 1992, he could come in as the unknown outsider (from Hope, Arkansas, no less) and surprise everyone.
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Swingin' with Christian Josi
 Just got back from interviewing Christian Josi at the Morrison House Hotel (not to be confused with the Doors album, Morrison Hotel). Those of you who follow politics, know Christian Josi from his days on Dan Quayle's presidential campaign -- or for being Executive Director of the American Conservative Union (ACU) (where he was in charge of CPAC). But if you follow music more than polls, you probably also know of Christian Josi as a much sought-after and acclaimed musician. During my time at The Leadership Institute, Christian was what could only be described as a "Conservative Star." Those of you who are frequent readers know that it usually takes a few weeks before we can post an interview, but this is definitely one to watch out for. You'll get lots of good tips for being successful in politics and the conservative movement. Stay tuned for the interview. His ACU rating is 100 percent -- and his amplifier goes all the way to "11." Buy his new CD here.
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Step 2: Cartoons: Not Just for Saturday Morning Anymore
By Ari AugenbaumPart 2 of 5 part series of articles about political exile Part 1 was posted on July 7, 2005 We all remember when we were kids and we used to wake up early on Saturday morning so we could sit in front of the TV for about seven mindless hours watching Looney Tunes. Still wondering to this day, if the Road Runner ran into the door he painted onto the wall, how come when Wiley Coyote tried it was just paint? Okay, maybe it's just me who's still bothered by that. Today, there is a whole new age of cartoons. The Simpson's, Family Guy, American Dad and South Park are just a few of the new generation of cartoons taking over prime time television. Now you're probably thinking: "What does Homer Simpson have to do with House Majority Leader Tom Delay?" or "My burrito is burning; I should probably go take it out of the oven." If I'm right, first, take the burrito out of the oven, then come back and we can go on. Now that you've had a bite to eat, let's get back to the relationship between Tom Delay, and Homer Simpson. It's really very simple. Shows like The Simpson's and Family Guy are nothing but political commentary delivered in the medium of flashy, colorful, animated characters. For example, The Simpson's, which aired on Sunday June 26, 2005, was entirely based on the issue of gay marriages. The beauty of prime time television is that from the time a writer, like Family Guy's Seth McFarlane, brainstorms an idea until it is able to hit the air is a minimum of two months. Generally the shows will be written some time around the summer or fall and then air during the next season, as much as eight months away. Another reason prime time television can be such a useful tool in returning to the game, is because of reruns. We all hate turning on the TV after a long day of work and saying, "oh, I've already seen this one, wonder what's on TiVo instead?" but like NBC used as their marketing slogan in 2000, 'If you haven't seen it, it's new to you.' Since we both know you haven't seen the newspaper from last September, you might not have known that the issue plaguing the country was, whether or not gay marriage should be upheld as a legal union. That makes June 26, episode of The Simpson's your 'get out of reading the New York Times free card.'
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I'm getting ready to head over to the Leadership Institute to talk about "hiring consultants." It's a good topic to teach because there are so many con-artists out there taking advantage of campaigns. Let's see how it goes. I'm going to take this presentation and create a blog about it.
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What? Staying on Message Works???
In politics, there's such a thing as being too intellectual. Here's Wonkette's sarcastic take on the Dem's new plan to stay on message ... The NYT Magazine yesterday laid out a fascinating scenario for the future of the Democratic party, based on the revolutionary new idea of "talking points." Apparently, staying concisely on a message arrived at through carefully conducted focus groups may help one win a political battle. The test case for this, the article points out, was the Republicans' attempt to eliminate the filibuster. As you may recall, the Democrats fought back successfully, all the way to a draw. (A draw being a success for Democrats.) The story's author, Matt Bai, lays out how they worked this magic:
In an unusual show of discipline, Democrats in the Senate and House carried laminated, pocket-size message cards -- ''DEMOCRATS FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY, AGAINST ABUSE OF POWER,'' blared the headline at the top -- with the talking points on one side and some helpful factoids about Bush's nominees on the other.
Basically, by reducing their arguments to note cards, Democrats managed not to lose to the Republicans. Winning will take reducing their arguments to pointing and grunting. Or just give Kerry a lobotomy.
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Ain't That Tough Enough?
 Last week, Nancy Madsen reported on the CQ briefing she attended. The big news to come out of the briefing was a poll demonstrating a Republican woman for president would be tough to beat. Of course, the question is: Is America ready? Here's how the Post reported the story: You go, girl.
A poll last week found that 86 percent of voters believe a woman is "tough enough to be president." But the poll, by Hotline and Westhill Partners, found that individual women did not do as well in perceived toughness.
Fifty-eight percent said they thought Hillary Rodham Clinton is tough enough, and 46 percent said Condoleezza Rice is tough enough. But while the secretary of state is not a likely presidential candidate in 2008, the senator from New York might wish to hire a personal trainer while there is still time.
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a LOTT'a Book ...
 Washingtonian: After Trent Lott was deposed as the Republicans' Senate majority leader two years ago, he signed a $200,000 book deal with HarperCollins publisher Judith Regan, in part to settle scores with his replacement, Bill Frist, and every senator who sided with Frist against him.
But after giving Lott the consolation of the powerful chairmanship of the Senate Rules Committee, Frist has carefully solicited Lott's advice about counting votes and making deals, acknowledging Lott is much better on those things than he is.
Frist's diplomatic strategy toward his foe has led Lott to experience private doubts as to whether doing a tell-all book was a smart thing. Written with celebrity biographer Peter Harry Brown, the still-unpublished book, Master of the Game, has a cover and a listing on Amazon.com. But it has not been released for sale.
Now that Frist has decided to leave the Senate and run for president, Lott is said to be fiercely torn over whether to publish. With Frist not seeking another term, Lott hopes he can get his leadership position back. Would the book sink that ambition?
On the other hand, if he does not produce a final manuscript, Lott would be bound to return the $100,000 he's already received of the advance. He wouldn’t get any of the second half normally paid on publication.
According to book-industry sources, the new official publication date for Lott's tell-all is November 2006 or later, although one New York industry source already calls it-unofficially-"DOA."
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Democrat "messiah" Reframes Framing?
Democrats are looking to advisor George Lakoff to tell them what to say for the battle over the Supreme Court nominee. His book, "Don't Think of an Elephant," uses his own linguistic theories to consider politics and language. Lakoff is telling Democrats that they have to use metaphors and emotionally-charged language to effectively resist Republicans. In this article, Lakoff admits that Republicans were able to figure out first how to use language effectively. Americans responded to the "flip flopper" label that Bush used against Kerry in 2004. This verbal metaphor, backed up with a visual of Kerry windsurfing, combined with constant repititions of the metaphor created an emotional response against Kerry. When Democrats needed help with the filibuster debate, Lakoff came up with Bush rolling dice to change traditions on a whim. He was also responsible for the Democrat's image of President Bush as an "old-fashioned traveling salesman." Using emotional language is nothing new in politics, but Lakoff thinks he has reinvented the wheel for Democrats by urging them to use emotional metaphors for the President and his plans. The key is: find a message that has emotional appeal and repeat it often. The trick is to find an effective message for each issue or race. As we all know, the messages of both parties and their candidates have varied greatly in effectiveness.
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More on the French students' visit
The French students who visited on Wednesday are on a trip organized by IFP. Contribuables Associes, the taxpayer union in France, funded the trip.
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I'm getting ready to head to the Dallas area to speak to a group of Republicans. My blogging will be light for the next couple of days. Keep it real.
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 Fox News : "Can Bush Survive Without Rove?"
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GOP Needs a Woman for '08
 This morning, I attended CQ's Hotline/Westhill Partners 2nd Quarter Political Briefing at the National Journal headquarters. We first looked at a Westhill Partners/ Hotline Poll that covered, among other issues, the public's opinion of possible presidential candidates for 2008. The most eye-opening finding concerned the gender of potential presidential candidates. If all other characteristics were equal, the best possibility for Republicans to win the next presidential election would come if they ran a woman against a male Democrat. In this case, the Republican woman would trounce the Democrat man 46% to 27%. The reason is that the Republican base would solidly vote for the Republican woman, in addition to pulling a large chunk of Democrat and Independent women. The other scenarios all show a Democrat victory, but never as large as in this scenario. Republican women would not peel off to vote for a Democrat woman over a Republican man. Republicans need to start looking for a good female candidate for '08!
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Clinton Urges Young Liberals to Get Trained
 Yesterday, Bill Clinton spoke at a meeting designed to cultivate a new generation of liberal activists. According to The Washington Post , Clinton said: "You don't have to wait until your party is in power to have an impact on life at home and around the world," Clinton told a hushed crowd, urging them to embrace grass-roots organizing. "This ain't supposed to be easy, and you have to work at it. I promise you our adversaries work at it." It seems the liberals are still trying to take a page out of the conservative movement's handbook: David Halperin, a former speechwriter in the Clinton White House said: We've learned some things from what conservatives have done better, particularly in developing and communicating ideas, in promoting news leaders and in trying to bring people together who are interested in different issues but who have the same general political orientation."
In some cases, groups such as Young America's Foundation, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the Leadership Institute have been doing for years the type of work Halperin wants to emulate -- supporting conservative student publications, sending favored speakers to college campuses, bringing students to Washington for conferences. Frankly, we ought to be concerned. Political success is determined over time by the number of effective activists on the given sides ... and they are ramping up their training: Much of the day was filled with panels teaching students how to articulate the party's message. Strategist Paul Begala, Thomas Frank -- author of "What's the Matter with Kansas?" -- and Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel hashed over the reasons Bush won a second term. MoveOn.org's Tom Matzzie and American Prospect editor Garance Franke-Ruta spoke on "advocacy writing and blogging." Indie rocker Ted Leo and cartoonist David Rees -- author of "Get Your War On" -- discussed "mobilizing the arts for change." In a related story, Bill Clinton yesterday defended his presidential legacy saying George W. Bush won because of his "brilliant slogan -- compassionate conservatism." More from the Post: He said a friend of his, a Pentecostal minister, voted for Clinton twice but then went Republican because "ever since you left, nobody in your party talks to us anymore." But salvation is at hand. The pastor, Clinton said, told him: "I'd vote for Hillary. I love her."  In other news, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman will say it was wrong to exploit racial conflict for votes: It was called "the southern strategy," started under Richard M. Nixon in 1968, and described Republican efforts to use race as a wedge issue -- on matters such as desegregation and busing -- to appeal to white southern voters.
Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Committee chairman, this morning will tell the NAACP national convention in Milwaukee that it was "wrong."
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Francophile ...
Liz writes asking if a young French lady named Sabine Herold was in attendance this morning. She was not, but it is indeed good to see that conservatives (or in Sabine's case, Libertarians) are making inroads in France. Like Sabine, all of the people I talked to this morning were young. As such, I explained to them that liberals dominated our country for several decades until the modern conservative movement began in 1964. I hope some of these young French future leaders will be the Ronald Reagan (or at least Barry Goldwater) of their nation. At that point, I will quit calling them "Freedom Fries!" Liz also notes that we have turned off the "comments" section on the blog. We did this for several reasons. Please note that you can always email us with questions or pithy comments at comments@campaignleadership.com. You can also email us your questions by typing in the text box on the right of the blog (if you want us to email you back, be sure to include your email address). Speaking of comments, let me know your thoughts on whether or not this blog should reinstate the comments feature ...
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Conservatives around the World
 This morning, Matt gave a seminar to five conservative French students. They were very interested in learning about running a campaign and giving a message. The students are in the United States until the end of the month learning about American government and the conservative movement over here. They hope to use that education to spread the conservative ideas and policies in France. Here is their French website for the conservative movement in France. We wish them well in the rest of their time here and as they work for a young conservative movement in France!
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Dick Morris has some wise words today: "Terrorism only works if it can terrorize. Ultimately, then, the ability to stop them from achieving this goal rests with each of us. It is our reaction, not our deaths, that the terrorists really seek. If hostage taking fails to send us into a national tizzy, it tends to abate. If terror bombings outrage us and rekindle our determination but do not send us into haunting, personal fear, they will fail and, ultimately likely peter out."
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National Summer Election Law Seminar & School
The Republican National Lawyer's Association is holding its Fourth Annual National Summer Election Law Seminar & School in Chicago on August 12 and 13. For more information and to register, click here.
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Back from Charleston
 Got in from SC last night. I must say Charleston is a nice town, but man was it ever humid. It has been on my list of cities I want to visit for a long time now.
 Had lunch at a cool little restaurant that a lot of famous people have visited. Every table has a little plaque with the name of someone famous who has eaten at the table. My table had Jimmy Buffet and Oliver North (presumably they weren't together...) Just sitting at this table gave me the urge to "take the 5th." There are a ton of historical homes in Charleston. This one was the home and office of Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard.
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Handling a Crisis
 Since September 11, 2001, we have seen several examples of leaders handling crisis well. Great Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair has again showed strength and grace in an extremely difficult time. His public statements and demeanor has even garnered praise from political foes. The Washington Post has a story about his ability to reflect the feelings of a nation with wisdom. Read it to learn from Tony Blair's example.
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The First Hispanic Justice?
Conservative Hispanics, who gave President Bush 40% of the Hispanic vote in 2004, are expecting a Conservative Hispanic nominee. Conservative Hispanics are looking for the same thing the rest of the conservative base of GOP is expecting: a conservative nominee. A minority or woman is merely icing on the cake. The Hispanic front-runner, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, does not appear to be conservative enough, even for Hispanics. From the Washington Post: "Gonzales will divide the Republican base in an extraordinary fashion like no other nominee," said Manuel Miranda, chairman of the conservative Third Branch Conference. The AP also reports that a Hispanic nominee will not be supported by all Hispanics. To all Bush supporters, including Hispanics, the most important characteristic for a Supreme Court nominee is being conservative. Read more of the Washington Post story here.
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CQ, Broder: Dems Need Vision
From the Washington Post:A 27-page special report by Congressional Quarterly that examined voting and demographic data for all 435 House districts concluded that for the first time, most districts -- 220 -- have a majority of their populations in the suburbs.
"For Democrats, that means that unless they figure out a strategy for breaching the outer suburban fortress, it will be a struggle to achieve the 15-seat gain they would need to capture control in the 2006 midterm election," the report said. "And their prospects look bleak for a return to the kind of dominance they enjoyed during a House reign that ran from 1954 to 1994." The study found that 90 districts are urban, 61 are rural and 64 are mixed. In a similar survey in 1997, many more districts were mixed. David Broder wrote yesterday that Dean and the Democrats need policy and political vision to gain seats. Apparently, they haven't learned the lesson from '04 and '02 that you can't just run as the anti-Bush.
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Our good friend Nicole Angersbach has started a conservative blog. Check her out here.
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 Greetings from sunny Charleston, SC. I'm down here to attend an event on Kiawah Island. In the meantime, I have been enjoying some good seafood. Tomorrow, I hope to check out Ft. Sumpter. But I'll also be keeping up with the political news of the day ...
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Learning from Experience
 Nancy Madsen is an intern for Campaign Leadership Company, LLCYesterday, I interviewed Morton Blackwell, president of the Leadership Institute and a long-time Committeeman for the Republican Party. The interview will soon be available for premium members. I was nervous, being new to the whole recorded-interview thing and interviewing my boss' former boss. However, I quickly realized that young conservatives like me should spend more time around people like Morton Blackwell, who have a lifetime full of political experience. Not only did he talk about his political experience, but he is one of those rare folks who can turn his experience into broad principles. Most people just don't put enough thought into what happens to or around them to come away with any wisdom from it. My swim coach calls it "a wise man's education." By this, he means that the best way to learn is to watch or listen to other people's stories, learning what they did right or wrong. Then, when we encounter a similar situation, we will be better prepared to do the best thing. Listening to Morton made me realize how important a "wise man's education" is. Understanding lessons from the past and the overall movement of politics and conservatives equip us with wisdom to move forward. So now, I would enjoy another opportunity to interview a person with so much political wisdom.
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Here's some interesting controvery: Bob Novak's new column says Bush is the biggest obstacle to a conservative court. Bush is a stubborn man, who sounded like he might really nominate Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in the face of deep and broad opposition from the president's own political base.
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A great team can achieve more than an individual. The Center for Creative Leadership offered several tips for boosting team spirit. These tips are great if you work for an organization or a company. And many of them would even work on a campaign. Click here to read the article.
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 It is important, however, that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire impose extremism on the world.
Whatever they do it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world.
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Memo to Religious Conservatives: Shut Up!
So how should we talk about the Supreme Court vacancy??? According to a NY Times article, The White House and Senate Republican leaders are urging conservatives to cool the rhetoric over Alberto Gonzalez. Heck, even respected conservative leader Grover Norquist is cautioning fellow conservatives ...  "The only ones who could make somebody sound extreme," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative group, "are some of the president's allies talking in an inappropriate way and themselves sounding extreme, which then gets tagged to the nominees." Apparently they have some polling that suggests the public wants a serious and dignified nomination process. So they are advising us to "play nice." "Every contact we have with these folks is 'stay on message, stay on purpose,' " Mr. Ueland said. "The extremism of language, if there is to be any, should be demonstrably on the other side. The hysteria and the foaming at the mouth ought to come from the left." Some conservatives don't buy it -- and why should they? We know by experience that emotion trumps logic. We've seen what they did to Bork and Thomas ... And besides, the stakes are high. How long have we been waiting for this opportunity??? In any event, here is another admonition to shut up: If all my side does is talk about process - 'we want a fair hearing, etc.' - while Ted Kennedy is talking about 'we are not going to let somebody on the court who is going to take away the rights of individuals,' as silly as I think that is, it will affect the way people think about the battle," Mr. Bauer said. Of course, we all know this is going to be a war.
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Men to Learn From
 There's a lot of bad news in the news right now. That's why I'm happy to talk about two inspiring people who have been in the news this week. The first is Admiral James Stockdale. Of course, the thing that is inspiring about this story isn't his recent death -- but the fact that it is reminding us all about his remarkable life. His obituary in the Washington Post says: James B. Stockdale, 81, the retired Navy vice admiral, teacher and thinker whose heroism in Vietnamese captivity won him the Medal of Honor and who later ran for vice president, died July 5 at his home in Coronado, Calif.
...
Embodying the virtues of both warrior and philosopher, Adm. Stockdale, an aviator, credited the tenets of Epictetus, one of the ancient Stoics, with helping him survive 7 1/2 years of abuse as the highest-ranking U.S. Navy officer to be held captive in Vietnam Though he did poorly in his only Vice Presidential Debate (Ross Perot should never have put him in this unfortunate position), Admiral Stockdale had nothing to prove to anyone. His debate performance reminds us that character does not necessarily equal political skill. His greatness will be remembered and he is an inspiration to every Patriot, though we will probably never know the sacrifices he made for his country. The second person to admire this week is Lance Armstrong. Of course, he's in the news because this Tour de France will be his last competitive race. And should he win it (he's ahead as I write this) he will have it for the 7th consecutive time. All athletes face adversity. Great athletes like Jordan, Gretsky, and Armstrong become heroes because they beat all the odds and overcome adversity time and time again when the pressure is on. But what sets Armstrong apart from other athletes is his heroic battle with -- and victory over -- cancer. His story is truly an inspiration one that every American can be proud of. One of the ways to stay motivated in politics is to have heroes. Through studying the triumph over adversity of these two men, may you and I become better leaders in our own right.
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 Someone had to write about it ... eventually. For months now, I have gloried in the fact that the Washington Nationals hats have a "W" -- or "Dubya" on them. According to the Washington Post: Neither the White House nor either of the national political parties appears to have tapped into the hat's symbolic value. When President Bush threw out the first pitch at the Nationals' home opener in April, he didn't even wear a cap.
But at the local level, some politicians are catching on.
Montgomery County Republicans, for instance, wore matching red "W" hats when 32 of them attended a recent Nationals game. "They like the red ones, especially," said county GOP Chairman Tom Reinheimer. I've had my Nat's hat since opening day (a gift from a good friend). He and I were surprised when Bush didn't capitalize on the W during his opening pitch. But I guess that's not his style. Let someone else make the connection. In the meantime, we've got to hope that there's at least some subliminal advantages. After all, both W's seem to know how to win. So how much do you want to bet George Soros get's rid of the "W" if he buys the team?
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Lessons from Lamar
I was looking thru Lamar Alexander's Little Plaid Book and found some good quotes I thought I'd share with you: - "If you don't have time to hear a story about someone else's grandchild, you're probably not the kind of person who ought to serve in office.
- "Write thank you notes promptly and in longhand."
- "Remember names as if the election depends on it. It does."
- "Spend time with voters and not too much time with political big shots. Big shots can defeat you, but they can't elect you."
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