WASHINGTON The longest presidential election season in American history is about to enter its final stretch.
Count 'em: 100 days to go.
In the time before Nov. 4, running mates will be chosen and platform skirmishes fought, economic reports released and as many as one-third of votes cast early by absentee ballot and at registrars' offices. Will more U.S. troops be pulled out of Iraq? Could a so-called October surprise be sprung, by calculation or catastrophe, that reshapes the campaign's close?
Both campaigns are acutely conscious of the passage of time. At Barack Obama's headquarters in Chicago, a countdown calendar hangs just outside campaign manager David Plouffe's office. The same count appears on white boards throughout John McCain's headquarters in a Virginia suburb of Washington.
"The momentum and intensity of the campaign builds almost every day as you approach the election," says Tad Devine, a strategist for Democrats Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. "You spend a lot of time planning for the events you know about, and you spend a lot of time reacting to the events that just happen."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Washington |
George W Bush |
White House |
Virginia |
Arizona |
Georgia |
Barack Obama |
John Kerry |
Alaska |
Iraq |
Chicago |
Ronald Reagan |
Labor Day |
Gen. David Petraeus |
Mike Huckabee |
Summer Olympics |
Meet |
Gallup |
David Plouffe |
Ross Perot |
Brian Rogers |
Tad Devine |
Evan Tracey |
Ed Rollins |
Bringing |
Democrats Al Gore
Some of the customary rhythms of a presidential campaign were disrupted this year after the Summer Olympics were pushed back two weeks. That squeezed the end-of-summer interval for the political conventions and prompted the GOP to schedule the first major-party convention to take place after Labor Day.
Not that either side has been waiting for the traditional Labor Day kickoff to the general-election campaign. By measures such as money raised and field forces deployed, the 2008 campaign already is setting records.
GOP: McCain sides with ban on affirmative action
DEMS: Obama defends trip; changes focus to economy
Obama has been campaigning for nearly two years, since acknowledging on NBC's
Meet the Press in October 2006 that he was considering a bid for the Democratic nomination. McCain effectively has been running even longer, since his embrace of former rival President Bush at the 2004 Republican convention made it clear the Arizona senator was positioning himself for his second White House run.
Now Obama holds a lead over McCain, 49%-40%, in Gallup's most recent tracking poll.
"Neither campaign has made the sale," says Republican strategist Ed Rollins, who helped run presidential campaigns for Ronald Reagan in 1984, Ross Perot in 1992 and Mike Huckabee this year. "The battle is the independent vote, and they don't make up their minds until late."
