Your problem, he said, is you keep trying to answer the question. Isnt that the point? I said. No, Barack, Axe said, that is not the point. The point is to get your message across. What are your values? What are your priorities? Thats what people care about. Look, half the time the moderator is just using the question to try to trip you up. Your job is to avoid the trap theyve set. Take whatever question they give you, give em a quick line to make it seem like you answered itand then talk about what you want to talk about. Thats bullshit, I said. Exactly, he said.

A Promised Land by Barack Obama