1.4.1 Climate

Principles describing temporary external conditions.

Seven Rules for Republican Challengers

Recently I responded to a thank-you letter from a local candidate for Congress, James Watkins, running against an long-time Democratic incumbent, Jay Inslee, by offering some specific election advice. This advice applies to all challengers to political incumbents, especially in areas that are traditionally heavily Democratic, such as the Seattle are.

Healthcare Vote: Poorly Timed Battle

The Senate Democrats have chosen to debate their federal health care bill at one of the poorest times imaginable. One of the most basic rules of strategy is that we must pick the right time for battle. Despite an overwhelming majority in both houses, the Democrats have chosen to fight this battle when most people are much more concerned about the economy, jobs, and government spending.

The easiest way for Republicans to defeat federal health care is to focus on a central theme of economic recovery:

Warrior's Rules: 

Competitive Arenas: 

Global Warming: Fraud or Great Strategy?

The recent exposure of a thousand emails among leading "scientists" involved in the promotion of so-called "man-caused global warming" demonstrates that their motivations have little to do with science. The emails discuss, among other things, the best ways to fudge data and keeping their efforts secret from scientists who are not "as predictable as we would like."

Warrior's Rules: 

Competitive Arenas: 

Newt Gingrich: Did he sink his chances at the Republican nomination?

Decisions that seem small at the time can have a big impact on stratetic position. One of the most fundamental principles of Sun Tzu's strategy is that we must adjust to changes in climate. We cannot fight the environment, we must adapt to it. Strategies that refuse to consider what is changing, are always doomed to fail.

Connecting the Dots On Unemployment: Making Matters Worse Instead of Better (Updated with Video)

The test of our understanding of climate and the effect of our decisions is our predictions. With that in mind, I refer you all to the great series at Innocent Bystanders comparing current unemployment to the government's predictions. The relevant chart is below. The light blue line is the prediction of unemployment without the bailout, the dark blue line was the justification for the bailout:

Political Climate and Ground

User bernd.schwieren asks:

Gary, in a political competition, how would you define ground and climate?

The ground is where you fight and what you fight for. It is the source of all resources. In an election, this means that it the support of the electorate (financial and otherwise) and, in the end, their votes. As Sun Tzu said, the ground can be divided in an infinite number of ways and Sun Tzu's strategy is probably 80% about ways of finding leverage on the ground.

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