Paradigm change

Success in politics is predicated on knowing how to pick your battles. Winning isn't always everything. Sometimes, as the saying suggests, how you play the game is more important. Although something like 55% of Czechs agree with Václav Klaus's negative view on the Lisbon treaty, the percentage of those who agree with his methods is clearly much lower and is falling by the day. Klaus seems to be fighting a losing battle, both in terms of whether the treaty will be adopted and in terms of public opinion. After Klaus lost the battle over EU arrest warrants, he abruptly let the issue drop, although the same sovereignty issues were at stake. If he ultimately signs the Lisbon treaty and then lets the matter go, he might be able to dispel the growing belief that he has "lost his marbles." But his expected break from ODS and his support for an anti-Lisbon party suggest that he plans to continue his rampage. Whatever his ultimate goal, he seems unlikely to achieve it. It is time, as Klaus himself might say, for a Paradigmawechsel. [Czech Repubic European Union reform]