For those of us who practice crisis communications or advise others on the subject, the recent financial institution meltdown provided a particularly apt case study. It proved once again that, in a crisis, strategy, actions, and words all matter.

Presidential campaigns can offer great lessons in brand management, and never more so than in the race between Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL).

Are terrorist groups like al Qaeda a "major threat" to the American people? According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, 72% of Americans think so.

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."