SORRY FOR BACK-2-BACK QUICK POSTS. BUT I HAVE TO SUBMIT WHEN I HAVE ACCESS. SO HERE'S SOMETHING I WROTE IN-FLIGHT BUT COULDN'T SEND UNTIL A NICE COMPUTER GUY HERE AT DANIEL WEBSTER COLLEGE IN NASHUA LET ME PLUG IN TO THEIR ETHER PORTS:
Cruising at 30K feet on Southwest 891, I lean across fellow Gadflyer Kenny Baer (and window seat-hog) to catch a glimpse of the Catskills below. (I grew up in Albany, so I've spent some time there.) There's notable media talent nearby on board: Greta Van Susteren, who haughtily availed herself of the "pre-boarding" option, is three rows ahead; and
Kate Snow,
family in tow,
is ahead one row,
from Kenny and yo.
In the airport waiting to board, it occurred to me that the primary schedule is especially front-loaded with pivotal general election states. Of the nine states holding a caucus or primary in the first three weeks, fully six of them - IA, NH, AZ, MO, NM for sure, and maybe DE too - could potentially be in play for the general election (ND, OK, SC should all be solid GOP wins). Now, depending upon whom you ask, there are somewhere between 17-20 possible swing states -- which means that the Democratic candidates are spending a lot of resources and getting a lot of face time in about one third of the states that will be crucial in a tight 2004 race.
Will this added exposure in key states matter for the eventual nominee? If so, does it help or hurt the Democratic nominee?
On one hand, the candidate will be more familiar to these states' residents; on the other hand, he may suffer from being too familiar. On one hand, there should be some residual organizational structure in place to build upon; on the other hand, the crowded field is wasting valuable resources in the primaries that will be painfully missed come fall.
What do the Kossacks think? No diff, net positive, net negative? Fire away....
P.S.: Please take time to also drop by
www.gadflyer.com/campaign
I will be posting some stuff just to Kos (like this post) and some stuff just to Gadflyer (like a forthcoming Edwards update, including a quick Q&A with Jennifer Palmieri, his top spokeswoman), and some stuff to both (like the Sharpton rant because, well, Al has it coming).