John McCain would keep American troops in Iraq for 100 years. Barack Obama thinks white working class voters cling to their guns and religion out of economic frustration. Hillary Clinton thinks the 2008 Democratic nomination battle could end as horribly as the one in 1968. What do these statements have in common?

Barack Obama is a phenomenon.

Happy New Year! As you read this, you already know the winners of the Iowa caucuses, but, as I write it, those caucuses are still a week away. So, using this column to make Iowa predictions would be rather foolish, don't you think? Instead, let me offer a system for evaluating the candidates' messages and how those messages affect their chances for success.

Tis the season of polls.

Ever since Joe McGinniss' 1968 The Selling of the President about the packaging of Richard Nixon, the candidate-as-product has been a recurring campaign-coverage theme. Candidates are launched, positioned, and advertised like products.

Starbucks' chairman Howard Schultz recently told his top executives that they may be "watering down the Starbucks experience [and] soul."

Well, the Democrats did it. They won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate on a message of "we're not them."

If the Democrats wake up on November 8 having seized control of one or both houses of Congress, it will be for one reason - they had the better message.

What are the first two questions you ask yourself when you hear about a new PR disaster? Here are mine. First, what the hell were they thinking? Second, how can smart people do such dumb things?

In business and in life, we all depend on role models to help shape our decisions and behavior. Countless "how-to" business books testify to this.