By Lisa LeMaster

What a remarkable journey. Dick Morris ascended the highest egotistical peak - the cover of Time magazine. Then he skied to the valley of shame - the cover of the Star.

In one week, a man who has advised some of the most powerful people in the country became his own worst adviser.

Mr. Morris has donated some textbook examples of poor crisis communications. Remarkably, in dealing with his own crisis, he forgot the basics.

The No. 1 thing to remember is: Denial is a powerful emotion. Even powerful and brilliant people fall victim to this emotion. Denial is demonstrated by expressions that may sound innocuous:

"No one ever will know or notice."
"It won't happen to me."
"This will go away in one day."
"It isn't a big story."

I have heard those arguments from well-meaning people in a crisis. But they simply are wrong. People will notice. It can happen. Bad news doesn't go away. And minimizing the importance of a negative story makes it even bigger.

Clearly, Mr. Morris believed, "It (the expose) never could happen to him. Otherwise, if the reports are true, why would he have been so brazen in his personal behavior?

That brings us to another rule: Everything is on the record. The camera always is on. You will be judged by what you say and how you behave in public and private situations, especially if you like to brag about your importance.

In political candidate schools, students often are taught the classic responses to the revelation of bad news. In descending order of effectiveness, the most oft-used defenses are:

"I didn't do it."
"I did it, and I was right."
"I did it, but I never will do it again."
"Everybody does it."
"The people who are saying these things about me are scoundrels."

Mr. Morris chose the final and least effective response as the battleground for his integrity. He resigned, which was the right thing to do, but in his statement he attacked the paper and not the issue.

When asked for a comment on the Star's story, he declared, "I will not subject my wife, family or friends to the sadistic vitriol of yellow journalism."

Mr. Morris made the classic mistake in crisis communications. He picked the wrong battle. Using his wife as a screen, he attempted to divert attention from the real issue: personal values. Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew tried the blame-and-complain tactic, too. The real issue, of course, was Howard Baker's question: "What did the president know, and when did he know it?" In the corporate world, Food Lion attacked ABC News for its story on tainted and recycled meat, even running commercials attacking hidden cameras. The right battle was about the safety of food.

Perhaps Mr. Morris had no other possible response. Dodging the essential issue may have been the only way to keep his family and his sanity.

Some pundits say Mr. Morris will be back. But that is hard to envision unless he acknowledges the truth, stops the blame game and changes his behavior.

Public figures always have to be prepared to answer a question raised in Ken Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale's book, The Power of Ethical Management. When deciding if an action is right, ask yourself: "How would I feel about this if it appeared in the newspaper?" Even if that newspaper is the Star.

Lisa LeMaster is the president of The LeMaster Group, a Dallas-based company specializing in crisis communications.

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