Republicans use think tanks to come up with a lot of their messages. The think tanks are the single worst, most undisciplined example of communication I've ever seen.

It has to be simple, but then you deliver them a principle: The simple truth is, as a matter of principle, we cannot spend more than we take in. Something - that changes the tone of the debate.

If you just heard 90 percent of dentists recommend something, it's too statistical. Nine out of 10 says: Well, it's just virtually everyone. It leads you to think of that joke about the one dentist. But so much of communication.

The ability to connect and communicate is one of the most powerful, and you cannot find anyone who has been truly successful in life that doesn't have that ability because you've got to motivate, and you've got to -frankly, you have to influence.

I've done reasonably well over the last 10 years because I took the strategy of language and politics and applied it to the corporate world, which has never been done before.

Whether or not you liked George W. Bush, there was no doubt about what position he was going to take, and that's what endeared him to a significant segment of American society.

While it is important to trash the governor, it should be done in the context of regret, sadness and balance.