Words to Remember...

In my book, "Teaching Elephants to Talk," I advise conservative candidates to follow every policy declaration with the following words: "Now let me tell you what this means to you..."

The point is that voters don't naturally realize that policy A will benefit them.

In a very good op-ed in today's NYT, Ramesh Ponnuru illustrates how John McCain failed to understand this lesson: "... he had an innovative health care plan, but he rarely explained how it would help the average voter."

If only he had said, "Now let me tell you what this means to you..."