Does It Help Or Hurt A Candidate To Enter Late In The Game?

[arwalden]

Have they missed tapping the best sources for money by announcing their candidacy late? Or do they benefit because it makes headlines when all the pundits exclaim "MY! A little late, isn't it?"

Does the late-announcing candidate appear to everyone as being thoughtful and deliberate? Or does it make them look wishy-washy (as though they couldn't make up their mind)?

-- Allen

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. In this race it may help!

40% of Democratic voters are still undecided as to who they would vote for! A new candidate may appeal to them!

[NicRic]

2. It may be a must to win ?

Iam not trying to start a flame feast and I have nothing against most of the annouced Dems running .I know Dean has alot of popularity here a D/U. I'm from the anyone but bush line of thinking ,however I just dont see any of the annouced runners winning in 04 ,something I badly want a Dem to do ! I hear alot about Clark ,however I really have no idea what his stand on the issuses are ? I still believe Gore annoucing he was not running was a big mistake and nationaly he is still the most popular, and polling ahead of rest ! I believe there is still time for Gore to enter and win in 2004, after listening to his last speech, he said everything I wanted to hear , and he said it with the confidence of a exprienced leader that can lead us out of the bush mess ! IMHO, Respectfully,NicRic

[Tennessee Gal]

3. ABSOLUTELY!

Gore should get back in the race.

[Booberdawg]

4. YES!!

:evilgrin:

[HawkerHurricane]

5. A better question might be

"Does it hurt all these candidates who announced so early?"

In 1992, Bill Clinton announced only 13 months before the election and won. Why are they announcing so early?

[Gman]

6. As a rule, the sooner you're out there running, the better

However, it can also be that if people don't see a real good choice among the current candidates, someone entering late, but has all the name recognition and positives necessary, can be competitive.

[phillybri]

7. Both....

Hurts: Later start for fund-raising, building name recognition...

Helps: Get to be a fresh new face (especially now when many candidates have been running for about a year), a level of mystique.

Didn't Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton get a "late" start?

[DrFunkenstein]

8. Helps Against Dems, Will Get Smashed Against Bush's Coffers

It may give a late buzz when people start actually paying attention, but if the candidate (Clark, of course) gets the nomination, they will see themselves quickly blown out of the water by a sitting President with an unprecedented amount of cheese to spread.