Ben Smith: “The presidential campaign is currently a two-year cycle, which begins just after the prior midterm elections. There are a number of reasons for this bloat I won’t revisit in detail, but revolve around the imperatives of fundraising and boxing out rivals, and feeding an overgrown media machine (sorry!).”
“But there are also downsides: Your rivals attack you for months. You face steady pressure to remake yourself for your party’s activist base. Journalists have many months to dig very deep on your record and your life. The public can really get sick of you. Your staff can get sick of each other.”
“Harris is accidentally demonstrating the alternative: She’s the hot new thing in August, riding on vibes and goodwill six months after the Super Tuesday peak of modern campaigns. When she holds a convention next week, it won’t just be a high-production finale of a long season. Viewers will be turning in to figure out who she is — and she’ll tell them.”
