Business theorist Michael Porter believed competitive advantage stemmed both from the ability to perform particular activities within a value chain and from the ability to manage the linkages between these activities effectively. By the same token, it is possible to create competitive advantage in the public policy arena by both creating each step in the value chain and by connecting them effectively. By doing so, the parts - the thinkers, writers, policy makers, marketers and candidates –become an effective whole. The individual pieces become a system that can transform theories into policies, policies into messages, and messages into political power.