I’m on the NR Cruise, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. We’ve had rough seas so couldn’t dock in port yesterday and won’t get off rough seas until tomorrow. Can’t help but think it’s a metaphor for something.
There were panels yesterday about that presidential election you may remember we just held. It does come up here. “Candidates matter,” is one phrase that has been repeated.
At the end of the day the candidate will take blame because it’s his campaign, but the problem runs so much deeper, even deeper than failed software. We have a confidence problem. And until we regain confidence, and go out to every audience with confidence, we’re not going to win big. That lack of confidence infects the candidate pool — leading people from a paranoid cautiousness and the obliteration of filters.
Call me crazy, this is just for the sake of discussion, but take a look at who did win: John Boehner actually does show some confidence, a consistency, and, yes, a willingness to negotiate, within parameters. And he tries to be smart about it — not picking fights simply because he’s there with the Speaker’s gavel, even if they can’t advance beyond his caucus. And his guys came back (broadly speaking). Is there something there?
Just encouraging discussion . . .