The Battle For the Democratic Ballot

03/05/2008

Paul Munnis


Say what you will. There is some advantage for Democrats in having two robust candidates standing up and slugging it out right down to the wire.

The presidency is all about battles. Battles won, battles lost and battles being fought. If you can’t manage a battle in the election you sure can’t do it once you have the job.

The presidency is all about health too. The grind of a national campaign with breakfast in LA and dinner in Boston is a physical grind. When you arrive then you still have a six hour job to perform in front of thousands. You have to be healthy and you have to be on your game at all times. Candidates are like weight lifters, they get stronger from the exercise.

Then there is the advantage of the two Democrats trying to separate themselves from one another in an attempt to win votes. As they contest they sling a certain amount of mud at one another and in so doing they become as Teflon to the Opposition Party. Once voters have heard an attack, if it’s handled in a satisfactory manner, then it’s pretty hard to bring it up again. People just say the opposition is using tired old arguments.

Then there is the candidate interest level. All McCain has to do now is rest and deal with a VP candidate selection. Likely he’ll let that go until the Convention and so after a few sparring rounds what’s he got left to say? A long period lies ahead before he can engage the opposition in TV debate. Now his problem is how to stay visible without spending too much money. He needs to save money for the real battle that is just ahead.

In the meantime the McCain campaign team needs to create two play books – one for each Democratic candidate. That means double the effort.

It’s also going to be hard for McCain to raise money as he lacks an opponent and people have a sense that the race is not yet begun.

So, it’s not all bad for us Dems to have to read about the close race between Hillary and Barack. We can handle it. Can McCain?