The people who cover primaries know there is more to it than "the horse race," the term journalists use as shorthand for focusing solely on who's ahead and by how much. They know it, but it's hard to avoid being pulled onto the track.
Even when reporters cover fundraising, issues and gaffes, it's usually in the context of what these things will do to a candidate's chances in this primary or the next. But I want to suggest that there are three things to cover in any primary, only one of which is the accrual of delegates.
There are three things a candidate can do while campaigning for a primary, of which the second and third seem to be ignored much of the time:
- Delegates.
- Money.
- Positions.
You're thinking that you hear reporters discuss raising money and staking out campaign positions all the time. But I don't mean raising money and staking out campaign positions as regards their effect on the current race. I'm looking ahead to subsequent races and even to serving in office.
Barack Obama went into Pennsylvania spending big -- he had a war chest of $40 million at the beginning of this month -- knowing Hillary Clinton was millions in debt, and figuring that it might help him secure the nomination if he could force her into more deficit spending. This strategy worked, btw. But when Clinton won, she raised $10 million in 24 hours over the Internet, money that came in part from 70,000 people who hadn't given to her before. This is an interesting development for everyone -- all the candidates, both parties.
And positions? Consider: Obama reached out to Pennsylvanians by expressing more sympathy for gun owners than some of his supporters might have thought he had. Now he's locked in to that position in other states not all of which will necessarily be warm to that.
It would be good for campaign reporters and the public to focus more intently on positions that candidates stake out during the primary season, because if they win public office we should expect them to stick to their guns.
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