Right after he was announced the winner of a disputed election for a sixth term, former general and military tactician traveled north to the front line to visit troops battling a rebel push on the capital.
The wily tactician left some wriggle room: his renunciation was to facilitate a grand alliance of the right; if it does not happen, he could make another U-turn.
Bannister, a superb tactician, has suffered some criticism in the past for adopting his own rather unorthodox training methods, but they're paying dividends now.
But, you know, go back to Reed and McConnell, brilliant tacticians, hardball, like, they play hardball politics, but those guys weren't, like, the face of the party as much as the opponents wanted them to be.