In the campaign during the last few weeks, I see two of those moment opportunities having surfaced. President Obama and his campaign bypassed one key moment, while Sarah Palin took advantage of the other. It kind of shows the difference between a politician and campaign that makes decisions tethered to a plan and from logic, and another who makes decisions based on their gut and from their heart. Obama makes fewer mistakes than Palin, but he also misses some key moments along the way…
Many folks criticize Palin for the fact that her history of helping candidates has succeeded only about half of the time. In my view, this is an incredible record, since she almost always backs underdogs and candidates with seemingly no chance of success. Palin does this because she makes decisions from the gut. Yes, she makes mistakes, but she also knows how to take advantage of a moment when it presents itself.
And so let’s look at another moment where a candidate and his campaign missed a real opportunity. I wrote this a few weeks ago, and I’ll say it again: Obama’s campaign, starting in mid-April, had a real opportunity to frame this race and keep Mitt Romney from rising or getting up off the mat. They let it pass.
