For those who have read ArchPundit for a long time, you will remember my penchant for looking down the game tree before choosing a strategy. The phrase comes game theory, but essentially is shorthand for thinking through what will happen once you act. How will others respond is the key thing to think about in such circumstances. Politics is usually made interesting by two kinds of mistakes.
One, is a gaffe, or as Michael Kinsley points out, the mistake of telling the truth. Trent Lott made a gaffe when he said a lot of people think the country would have been better if Thurmond had won the Presidency. This is true because there are a lot of racists out there, and they largely support Trent Lott.
Two, is not looking down the game tree and making a rash decision out of anger. Say if you were Senate Majority Leader and you are angry at a former administration official and you make vague threats about declassifying testimony to determine if a former official had perjured themselves. The hope of such a move is to intimidate the former official. Of course, if you look down the game tree and think it through, said former official has probably anticipated this and is going to say, “Sure, open it up, but open everything up.” Thus leaving said Senate Majority Leader looking around trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Of course, the first to suggest this strategy was Bob Graham who should be well on his way to being the next Vice-President at this point.