Long nomination process

[abcdan]

I think the close, competitive nomination process is great! It helps hone each candidate's message, it attracts media attention, and it's fun! But do you think if the process goes on too long (theoretically into early June) it could hurt the eventual nominee, by taking time away from the head to head campaign?

[Frances]

1. I'm not sure when I hope it ends

But I definitely think it is a good thing for now. If the Dems had settled on a nominee, the Repubs would have Gore-ized him to tiny pieces by now.

[Redneck Socialist]

2. You beat me to this topic.

I was just about to post a similar question. Before the primaries started in earnest I was looking for a strong candidate that would wrap up the nomination early thus enabling him to focus on bush and start raising the enormous amounts of money he will need to be competitive in the general election.

Now I'm not so sure.

An extended primary will give us a ton of media attention. If we can avoid egregious, bitter personal attacks and keep the focus on bushCo. a longer primary might be a plus.

Unfortunately money, money, money is going to be so critical and the longer the primary drags on the less time the eventual nominee has to raise the big bucks.

Sorry, this is a long way of saying I'm not sure.

The media attention (provided the message is bush is bad) will be invaluable, but if the message is "You suck! No, you suck!" and the eventual winner limps to the finish scarred, bloody and with no money we will be in trouble.

[damnraddem]

3. In general, it is way too long.

This year, with the media as it currently is, it is an opportunity -- for the Dems to highlight the issues, what Dubya has screwed up, what they would do, and so on. It gives Dem pols access to the media and people's attention that they would not otherwise have. They need to stop bashing each other and target Dubya, as well as say both: 1) what they would do, and, more importantly, 2) how they see things differently than do the neocons.

But for future elections, it needs to be much shorter, with a few tiers of super primaries later in the spring.