The Obama Strategy.

I am not, and have never been, a zealot for Obama. But watching his press-conference last Monday taught me something about the man, and believe it or not, something about life.

There were about thirty-two thousand things that could have crossed up Obama's campaign. Rev. Wright, his opposition to suspension of the gasoline tax, white backlash, black backlash and so on. The same can be said, of course, of Obama's press conference and his efforts to pass a stimulus package. But what Obama adopts is a positive version of the thousand-yard stare. He looks beyond the quotidian slings and arrows of life, of Washington B.S. And instead, keeps his eyes on the prize.

It seems to me, that most clients and most agencies believe that the end occurs or impends every two or three days. At that point they lurch like mad and address their current crisis. The have no linchpin, no end-point that keeps them balanced.

This is the strength of Obama and the strength of decent agencies. There are storms that must be weathered but they will be better weathered if we are focused on where we want to be. In other words if we think long-term not crazy crisis.