There are times when everything breaks perfectly in politics and there are times when events just overtake your intended message, no matter how perfectly it might have been planned out - and that's sort of what we saw this past week on the Buffett Rule.
Last week the White House planned three days of focus on the plan backed by Democrats to force those making over $1 million in income per year to pay a minimum percentage in taxes.
The President gave a speech on the subject in Florida last Tuesday, followed it up with an event the next day at the White House, and then made it the focus of interviews with a series of local TV stations who sent reporters to Washington, D.C.
But then other kinds of news started to surface, which - rightly or wrongly - grabbed more attention in the press.
First, it was Democratic activist Hilary Rosen's jab at Ann Romney that ate up political oxygen for a few days.
Then it was the weekend story about Secret Service agents sent home from the President's trip to Colombia because of allegations involving prostitutes.
Suddenly the saying, "Wheels up, rings off" was getting a lot more play than how much the Buffett Rule would change things.
The White House did try to make some headway, using the Friday release of the Obama and Biden family tax returns to argue that a higher tax rate was needed for the wealthy.
But then there was more about hearings in Congress on the big spending ways of the General Services Administration which dominated news on Monday - and more revelations about the Colombia trip, as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said he was "embarrassed" that some military personnel might have been doing the same stuff as certain members of the Secret Service.
Let's just say when you put "sex" on one hand and "Buffett Rule" on the other and weigh them back and forth, what do you think garners more interest?
Sex. Buffett Rule. Sex. Buffett Rule. Secret Service Sex Scandal. Buffett Rule.
Things even got more interesting on the GSA front Monday when photos surfaced - of the GSA official who was taking the Fifth Amendment - of him lounging in a hot tub with huge wine glasses and a beautiful Vegas view out his window.
What was the lead story Monday evening on all three broadcast networks - at the same moment that the Senate was taking that test vote on the Buffett Rule?
Your answer is the Secret Service and military actions on the President's trip to Colombia.
In the end, there wasn't any suspense on the Buffett Rule test vote, as Democrats had 51 of the 60 votes needed to force a start to debate on the Senate floor.
"Senate Republicans voted to block the Buffett Rule, choosing once again to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest few Americans at the expense of the middle class," the President said in a written statement issued by the White House after the vote.
When the White House has a press briefing on Tuesday, we'll see how many questions are about the Secret Service issues and how many are about the Buffett Rule.
Sex. Buffett Rule. Secret Service and sex. Buffett Rule. Sex. Buffett Rule.
Which one would you pick?
