If keeping up with the growing field of 2016 Republican presidential candidates is confusing, longtime GOP adviser Ron Bonjean has a suggestion on how to approach it.
“I liken it to a car race, like NASCAR,” he said. “Some drivers get noticed early, some break down. Some fans watch all 500 laps, others just for crashes. But in the end, it’s just the last five laps that matter.”
A key GOP advisor compares the 2016 presidential campaign to a NASCAR race. AP Photo
Top party analyst and former Mitt Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said that each of the 10 Republicans already in the race and the five or so still planning to join are equally confused on what voters want and how to grab their attention.
“There seems to be an emerging appetite for a new face and potentially someone who can draw a generational contrast with Hillary Clinton,” said Madden, a regular CNN commentator. But, he added, it “still remains to be seen, though, if that is an interest that wanes and whether or not a voter premium on experience returns.”
Pollster David Winston, who is not affiliated with any candidate, said the early primary fight has provided a “great field” of candidates. But the rubber hits the road in August, when the first Fox debate will be held, followed by CNN’s in September.
“That’s what matters most,” Winston said. “It is a defining moment. It’s huge.” The Fox debate, Aug. 6, is especially important because only the top 10 will be allowed in, a likely crushing blow to eight lower-tier Republicans.
And once that occurs, GOP communications guru Brian Walsh added, it will become even easier to differentiate the candidates when the campaigns start airing TV ads. “A lot of it is name recognition at the moment, though I wonder how much that means further down the road when the campaign and ads really begin in earnest,” he said.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
