Political genius Karl Rove has some insightful observations in today's THE WALL STREET JOURNAL about the new and old rules which seem to be shaping winning in Campaign08.
Some of his opining is obvious such as volatility being the new normal in campaigning. Up today, down tomorrow. The big bounce, Rove says, is gone. What's less obvious, at least to me, is the role the debates play. They can give an underfunded or late-comer candidate a significant boost if the performance is done well. But, it won't in itself get the candidate to the finish line. And that's where a lot of the old rules of politics come into play.
What's still fundamental to winning, for example, is the need to win over diverse elements of the party. One faction, such as evangelicals, is not enough. It never was and it isn't now. What never did work and doesn't now is throwing your hat in the ring late. As Rove puts it, "People want to see you sweat and bleed for the most important job in the world."
And, as we're seeing with Hillary's wins and losses, likability is still very important, in fact, more important than how large a war chest the candidate has.
Probably it's this mashup of new and old that's makes this campaign so riveting. I might pay less attention to the SuperBowl and its ads this year than to the cameo appearances of the candidates, e.g. the supposed Obama snub of Hillary.
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