Whatever he does should be seen as working at the Presidency and if he goes to Colorado for Christmas, it should be for a minimum amount of time, the family tradition and family get-together aspect emphasized, and it be seen as a working vacation.

The remark reflects a campaign strategist’s insistence that a presidential candidate’s public image must be relentlessly aligned with the office he seeks. Teeter’s advice treats every visible action—travel, holidays, family time—as political communication that should reinforce seriousness, work ethic, and readiness to govern. Even a Christmas trip is framed as acceptable only if it can be narrated as brief, duty-conscious, and rooted in wholesome family tradition, with “working vacation” signaling that the candidate never stops serving. The quote captures the modern campaign logic that authenticity is managed through optics: private life becomes part of the candidate’s governing persona.