We are at a point in the campaign where it is useful to look at prominent Republicans, and whether they are running on Bush's coattails, or if they're running away from Bush to create separation.
The first step is to create criteria that can be used to measure what Republicans are doing. The next step would be to identify "classes" of Republicans in regards to that criteria. The third step would be identifying what prominent Republicans would fit within each class.
Over the course of the campaign, we can then measure trends of movement. I think it would be useful, and perhaps even newsworthy eventually.
So, let's start with step 1. What kind of questions can be used to determine "classes"?
- - Is this Republican actively campaigning with the President?
- - In the past month, is the majority of this Republican's press coverage about the President critical or supportive?
- - In the past month, has the Republican publicly praised or attacked John Kerry?
What other criteria can we think of, and how can we measure it?