* Talk up your vice president. A nominee's first major decision is the tapping of a running mate. Four years later, a self-assessment of the pick can be tricky, particularly -- as in the case of Nixon (Spiro Agnew) or H.W. Bush (Dan Quayle) -- if the choice proves controversial. But it's not clear what a president gains by acknowledging disdain for his vice president, as Bush did in 1992: "My job has been made easier by a leader who's taken a lot of unfair criticism with grace and humor." Two decades earlier, Nixon's nod to the critics is less direct and his rejection of them more emphatic: "I thought [Agnew] was the best man for the job four years ago. I think he is the best man for the job today. And I am not going to change my mind tomorrow." Both Nixon and Bush I ignore the general rule (and safer choice) which is to pay one's number two the ultimate compliment and extol the vice president as "the best" (Carter on Walter Mondale and Clinton on Al Gore) or "finest" (Reagan on Bush I) or, at a minimum, "superb" (Bush II on Dick Cheney).

* Don't be defensive. A president's urge to address his detractors should be resisted even more when the barbs are aimed directly at him and not just his running mate. Not surprisingly, the losers-to-be are harder on themselves than the victors. Maybe circumstances (be it surging inflation and the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1980 or a soft economy in 1992) left Carter and Bush little choice, but the extent of their admissions seems counterproductive. Said Carter: "I'm wiser than I was 4 years ago ... Some have criticized the Camp David accords and they've criticized some delays in the implementation of the Middle East peace treaty ... I don't claim that every decision we have made has been right or popular ... We've made mistakes, and we've learned from them."

Bush père went further with his mea culpa: "I know that Americans have many questions ... even questions about me ... Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. Two years ago, I made a bad call on the Democrats' tax increase ... Well, it was a mistake to go along with the Democratic tax increase, and I admit it." With the electorate's attention span even shorter today, there seems to be scant utility to devoting precious minutes apologizing for first term missteps rather than outlining a compelling second term agenda.

* Name thy enemy without name-calling. After considering how to assess one's running mate and oneself, the other vital question is how to describe and evaluate one's opponent. The delicate trick for an incumbent -- who, as the president of the United States, stands before his audience as the world's most powerful person -- is to tear down the competition with a dignified touch. Again, Bush's '92 speech offers an object lesson in what not to do, as he took jabs at Clinton that came across as petty rather than persuasive. Bush poked fun at Clinton for his appearance in jogging shorts and for his infamous "smoked pot but didn't inhale" claim, then topped it off by questioning his courage: "I bit the bullet [and fought in war], and he bit his nails." Rather than reducing Clinton's stature, it was President Bush who wound up seeming small. Carter, too, missed the mark, but in a different way. He never mentioned his opponent by name, save for a reference to the Reagan-Kemp-Roth tax plan that surely registered with few viewers. Instead, most of his opprobrium was aimed at a generic group of "new Republican leaders". Particularly today, with close presidential elections determined by independents accustomed to voting for candidates from both majority parties, an incumbent should name his opponent and their policy differences without resorting to off-putting name-calling.