Bradley in DC
08-02-2007, 07:26 AM
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/08/ames_matters.html
August 02, 2007
Ames Matters
By Reid Wilson
. . . Other campaigns are trying to saddle Romney with the burden of an expected victory. "I anticipate Mitt Romney wins," says Republican strategist Bay Buchanan, currently working for Congressman Tom Tancredo, echoing what many strategists and pundits believe. "If he doesn't come in with numbers equivalent to what George Bush came in with," Buchanan said, "he's got something to answer for." Bush won 31% of the vote in 1999. . .
. . . For candidates without the bank accounts to continue [Dr. Paul already made that cut--keep donating!], Ames is much more important. They must carefully manage expectations so that, in whatever place they finish, they are seen as outperforming. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has said he will have to reconsider his future in the race if he doesn't finish in the top two or three. Buchanan, setting the bar low, says her candidate, Tancredo, "will be in the top half at the straw poll." That means a finish of fifth or better. A spokeswoman for former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson tried to keep expectations low when she said her candidate will finish in the top half, but was undercut when Thompson told The Politico, "If I don't win, I'll be shocked."
While the future is uncertain for Huckabee and Thompson, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback's campaign will stick around "for the long haul," said campaign manager Rob Wasinger. Continuing Brownback's recent efforts to portray Romney as his main opponent, Wasinger noted the cost of the event. "This is kind of like David and Goliath," he said. "And we're David." . . .
August 02, 2007
Ames Matters
By Reid Wilson
. . . Other campaigns are trying to saddle Romney with the burden of an expected victory. "I anticipate Mitt Romney wins," says Republican strategist Bay Buchanan, currently working for Congressman Tom Tancredo, echoing what many strategists and pundits believe. "If he doesn't come in with numbers equivalent to what George Bush came in with," Buchanan said, "he's got something to answer for." Bush won 31% of the vote in 1999. . .
. . . For candidates without the bank accounts to continue [Dr. Paul already made that cut--keep donating!], Ames is much more important. They must carefully manage expectations so that, in whatever place they finish, they are seen as outperforming. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has said he will have to reconsider his future in the race if he doesn't finish in the top two or three. Buchanan, setting the bar low, says her candidate, Tancredo, "will be in the top half at the straw poll." That means a finish of fifth or better. A spokeswoman for former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson tried to keep expectations low when she said her candidate will finish in the top half, but was undercut when Thompson told The Politico, "If I don't win, I'll be shocked."
While the future is uncertain for Huckabee and Thompson, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback's campaign will stick around "for the long haul," said campaign manager Rob Wasinger. Continuing Brownback's recent efforts to portray Romney as his main opponent, Wasinger noted the cost of the event. "This is kind of like David and Goliath," he said. "And we're David." . . .