Of Super PACs and Zombies

[Bravus]

Interesting article from Salon (usual caveats): http://www.salon.com/2012/01/11/the_rise_of_the_zombie_candidate/

The basic point is that, although the nomination is almost sewn up, new funding approaches means candidates are less likely to drop out of the race when it becomes clear they have no chance.

It means they'll stay there and keep advertising *against* the other candidates. Hard to see how that doesn't end up damaging the chances of the final nominee at the General.

[phkrause]

Great article

[Dr. Shane]

It means they'll stay there and keep advertising *against* the other candidates. Hard to see how that doesn't end up damaging the chances of the final nominee at the General.

It didn't seem to damage Obama much. There is a school of thought that says it makes the candidate stronger and takes away some ammunition from the opponent in the general election. For example, Romney will deal with a number of charges now (in January and February) in such a way that Obama will not bring them up in the Fall. Come November most voters will not even remember what was being discussed during the primary.

Right now they are hammering Romney about laying off some people in some of the buy-outs he did. Romney answers by saying, "Hey, Obama did the same thing in order to save the auto industry." So how does Obama bring up the same rhetoric in September that Romney has already dealt with in January?

[Bravus]

Well, it's true that people have very short attention spans...

[Bravus]

When is the *last* primary?

[Woody]

The last primary is of little importance if Romney has it secured long before that time as I suspect he will.

[Bravus]

Sure, for that purpose it's pretty unimportant, but my point was that the others could keep on hammering on him with millions of dollars worth of ads until then. Given that people do have short memories, there's a difference if that's in June or October for the November election.

[Dr. Shane]

As the winner becomes more and more apparent, the others will drop out because donors start shifting their money to the apparent winner. Rick Perry will most likely be done after SC. I think the only reason he didn't quit after Iowa is because Steve Forbes encouraged him with some $$$ to stay in. A lot of conservatives are putting a lot of heat on Newt. Limbaugh has been blasting him on the radio all this week. I expect his funding to dry up soon. Santorum got a boost after Iowa and we will see what happens in SC. He could maintain some donors for a while and even pick up some of the Perry and Gingrich donors.