October 2, 2025

In politics, there is no use looking beyond the next fortnight.

Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914), British Liberal politician, quoted by A. J. Balfour in a letter to Lord Salisbury, 24 March 1886, Jay p.80

Has this been your experience? To what extent, if any, have new forms of communication (e.g., email, social media) shortened that time frame?

Public opinion can turn on a dime, and much faster in the age of social media than ever before. A word, an image, a short posting on YouTube is all that’s needed. As best you can, always be mindful of the present moment, so you can deal as needed when some issue arises seemingly out of nowhere. Machiavelli, in The Prince (1513), cited this ability—to see trouble on the horizon, and not on one’s doorstep—as one of the most important of political skills.