Tim Pawlentey on the "Obamneycare" debacle

Really interesting insight, I think, into nuts-and-bolts campaign strategy for 2012:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/12/01/pawlenty_explains_his_campaign_ending_obamneycare_whiff.html

The constultants say, If you get a question from the screen, you've got to answer the person on the screen because otherwise it's disrespectful of the citizen. ... (M)y second swing thought is, After you do the screen, no matter what question you get, you've got to whale on Obama because the base loves that, and they like nothing better than when you criticize Obama and then pivot to whatever point you're going to make. So I'm thinking, screen, whale Obama, nick Mitt. ... I thought it was a legitimate point to whale on Obama, but I decided to stay with that and not finish it with Mitt.