Things were looking bleak for Bob Dole in the spring of 1996. The Dole campaign had decided it had to do something drastic to change the electoral map. And so, on May 15, Bob Dole issued a dramatic declaration.

Try this analogy: You have a white carpet in your upstairs hall. The normal rule is that nobody can wear shoes on the carpet. But the house is on fire – and the baby is upstairs. Will you tell the arriving fire department to wait and kick their boots off before dousing the flames?