- Visits
to
Key
Early
States « Rationale,
Methodology
and
Limitations
Rationale, Methodology and
Limitations
Documenting
Visits to Early States
Potential presidential candidates and
presidential candidates focus
much attention on the early
states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and studying their
visits
to these states can yield
useful insights on intentions, strategies and campaign
styles.
In the
pre-campaign
period and early primary period potential candidates investigate and
lay the
groundwork for a possible campaign. During visits to the key
early
states, they engage in such activities as campaigning for the party's
candidates and appearing at
fundraisers for candidates and party committees. Along the way,
in a variety of
settings, they meet with activists
and individuals who could play important roles on a
campaign.
Early on, visits and time spent in the early states are one indicator of interest in a possible presidential campaign. It can be an overly sensitive indicator, however. For some prominent individuals such as governors or former governors, merely setting foot in Iowa or New Hampshire can trigger presidential speculation, even if that is not what the individual has in mind. Alternatively, making a few visits to an early state may be a way of injecting or keeping one's name into presidential speculation even if one has no intention of running.
Later on, as potential candidates become
exploratory or
declared candidates, visits help them meet more activists and
supporters and grow their campaigns. Looking at candidate visits,
one can gauge how much effort the candidate is putting into a
state.
There are different approaches; some potential candidates / candidates
tend to pop in for quick visits, doing just one or two events, while
others put in several days in state and really get around.
Hugh Winebrenner, a professor at Drake
University now retired, did
early work on Iowa caucus visits.1
Democracy
in
Action
has
tracked
visits
since
the
2000
cycle
(reported
online
since
2004).
This
cycle,
in
addition to Democracy in Action, a number of organizations are
tracking early state visits:
Des
Moines
Register
Drake University's Iowa Caucus
Project
WMUR
NECN
AFSC's Governing Under the Influence Iowa | NH
Charleston
Post
&
Courier
U.S.
News
all states: National
Journal
Nevada has not established a tradition
as an early contest, but it
is one of the four carve-out states, and for those with sufficient
resources a strong argument can be made
for documenting Nevada visits as well.
The first challenge in tracking visits
is getting information on
potential candidate/candidate visits. Some of the potential
candidates / candidates are good about putting out schedules through
their PACs, political committees and campaign committees, or their
communications people may release
schedule details to favored reporters such as John DiStaso, now at NHJournal, or Jennifer Jacobs of
the Des Moines Register.
Staff
are
usually
helpful
in
confirming
details
of
visits.
One
can
also
find
information
on
upcoming
visits
from
state
and county
party
websites. Tweets by potential candidates / candidates, aides and
reporters, as well as news accounts allow one to fill in unannounced,
off the record and
impromptu stops.
In terms of quantifying visits, there
are two major challenges which
must be addressed: a) who to
include
and b) how to measure the visits.
Who
to
Include
The question of who to include in these tallies
proves surprisingly tricky. In terms of methodology, the question
is how to operationalize "potential candidate." There are a large
number of people who can be thought of
as potential presidential candidates. In Aug. 2014, The Hill newspaper ran an article
by Bob Cusack, titled "The 65 people who might run for
president in 2016." >
However
many
of
the
names
were
a
huge
stretch,
fanciful
even,
and
would
not
be
considered
potential
candidates by most
observers.
Another listing could be found on the RNC website in 2014; the "2016
Presidential Straw Poll" >
on their website
listed 32 names. Again, some of them were highly improbable
(Haley Barbour? Mitch Daniels? Newt Gingrich?
Condoleezza Rice?). Clearly it would a mistake to include
every prominent politician
who set foot in these states as a potential presidential
candidate. The lists of 65 people or 32 people are somewhat
nonsensical.
The Democracy in Action tallies track
what I
consider "top-tier" potential candidates / candidates. I
also kept an
eye on figures who could become top-tier potential candidates /
candidates,
and I added their visits into the tallies if their
status changed. The list of potential
candidates does evolve over time. New names emerge in
speculation.
Likewise some names are on the list early on in
the cycle, but fall off. If an individual is widely seen as a
potential candidate, but then decides not to run, or runs but then
drops out, those visits are kept in the tally. My objective is to
make necessary adjustments and
tweaks as the campaign progresses so that by the time of the caucus or
primary a definitive tally will be
the result.
Hugh Winebrenner states (Nov. 2014 email), "In many cases it is a judgment call. Like you I kept many people on the books and often made a judgment in retrospect; i. e., people who made a visit to Iowa that might have appeared to be interested but never followed up were eventually not included."
The examples below illustrate my
thinking, and I welcome any
comments readers may have
on this subject.
As noted above, the list evolves.
Former Sen. Scott Brown,
before he decided to run for U.S.
Senate in New Hampshire, was seen as a potential candidate and did make
a couple of visits to Iowa. Brown is now a former potential
presidential candidate, but it makes sense to keep his visits in the
Iowa tally. Likewise, former Gov. Jon Huntsman, former
Gov. Howard
Dean and former Gov. Brian Schweitzer were subject of early
speculation, but are no longer being
mentioned. Sen. Amy Klobuchar disavowed interest but made several
visits. Their early visits are included. Rep. Peter King
made eight visits to New Hampshire in 2013-14 trying to present himself
as a potential presidential candidate, but his last visit was in August
2014; he too looks like a former potential
presidential candidate but his visits are kept in the tally.
Moving in the
other direction, during 2013 and the
first part of 2014 I did not track Sen. Rob Portman, but as the year
progressed it media reports seemed to indicate that he was
thinking about running, so I added his visits in; ultimately he
announced he is not running. Former
Hewlitt Packard CEO Carly Fiorina was not included in the tally until
Nov. 2014, former Gov. George Pataki was added on Feb. 4, 2015, and
former Gov.
Jim Gilmore,
former Gov. Bob Ehrlich and former Amb. John Bolton on March 13, 2015.
Celebrity-type potential candidates such as former Gov. Sarah Palin and Donald Trump were also on the cusp. I included them in the tallies, although many observers agreed that neither of these figures will run. Trump has been not running since the 1988 campaign, but he keeps doing the tease. Palin appeared in the RNC Straw Poll, and in Oct. 2014 interview with Fox Business Network she mentioned "hopefully running for office in the future, too.”
Several individuals generated strong speculation, but issued equally strong disavowals of interest. Statements by former Gov. Mitt Romney and members of his family are so convincing that I didn't include him in the tally. Similarly. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has said so many times that she is not running for president that I do not include her.
A final difficulty arises if a candidate
is
from one of the early states. For example, when Iowa Gov. Tom
Vilsack sought the Democratic nomination it in 2006-07 it did not make
sense to include him in Iowa visits tally. A similar reasoning
applies to Sen. Lindsey Graham and South Carolina visits in the 2016
cycle.
At some point potential candidates make
the shift to become declared
candidates, and here too there are decisions to be
made. In recent election cycles there have been largely unknown
figures who have invested substantial resources and time in
campaigning in one or more of the early states. Several of these
were one-state wonders. Republican John H. Cox spent over 100
days in Iowa in 2006-07. Republican Fred Karger started renting a
place in
Manchester, NH in July 2011, and he spent more time in state than
any other
candidate. In the 2008 cycle, on the Democratic side,
former Sen. Mike Gravel spent considerable time in state. On the
Republican
side, in the 2012 cycle former Gov. Buddy Roemer moved to
New Hampshire, taking up residence in an apartment in Manchester on
July 14, 2011. In a sense these are "one-man band" candidates,
who have a
few staff and focus on one state but do not generate much
suppoort. I have not included any of these individuals in
the tallies. I have included other "temporary residents" in the
tallies, however. The Lieberman campaign rented an apartment in
Manchester, NH in Dec. 2003, but Sen. Lieberman
was a sitting officeholder, had a much higher profile than Gravel or
Roemer, and he made clearly defined visits to the
state. Likewise, Sen. Chris Dodd moved his family to West Des
Moines, IA in Nov. 2007. Businessman Morrry Taylor, who sought
the
1996 Republican
nomination, might be considered a second- or third tier figure, but he
had a decent campaign organization and was getting a fair bit of
attention, so
he would have been included in tallies.
How
to
Measure
In attempting
to quantify activity these states by a potential candidate
or, later on, by an exploratory or full-fledged candidate, one can
consider the
number of visits, number of days, or number of events. I
use number of visits and number of days.
A visit is fairly
straightforward.
If
a candidate enters a state, does an event or events and then leaves the
state, that is a visit. A tricky situation arises where a
candidate leaves the state but comes back the same day.
For
example if a candidate does an event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, crosses
the
Missouri River to do another event in Omaha, Nebraska and then returns
to Iowa or does some New Hamphire events with a stop in Maine or
Vermont
thrown in in the middle, an argument could be made that techically
there were two
trips to Iowa or New Hampshire. In this study, if a candidate
does
an event or events in a state, drives over the border and goes out of
the
state for a nearby event or events, and then comes back in state the
same
day such a trip is considered as one visit. However, if a
candidate does an event in Iowa, for example, then flies to New York
for some reason, and returns to Iowa later the same day that counts as
two visits.
The question of whether a visit must include public events to be counted merits discussion. This is akin to the question, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" For example in May 2013 former Gov. Jeb Bush was one of a number of prominent people to attend a conference led by Microsoft CEO Bill Gates at the Sanctuary Hotel on Kiawah Island, SC. The conference was closed to the media and rather hush-hush; I do not include that in the visits tally. One could say that there must be at least one public event for a visit to count, even if it is just a media interview. However, if candidate does a whole day or even a week of just private meetings with key officials that clearly needs to be included in a tally., but there must be at least some detail provided (private meetings where or with whom?) I do not include personal visits and vacations in the tally. See the related discussion on official events below.
A day means a day on which the candidate did some sort of publicly reported activity in the state. For example if a candidate arrives late at night and goes straight to the hotel and then does an event the next morning, that is counted as one day; similarly, if a candidate does some events, overnights, and leaves the next morning without any further events that is also counted as one day. Another example, comes from former Gov. Rick Perry's May 16-20, 2015 visit to Iowa; on May 17 he took a personal day so that visit was counted as four days. The problem with using visits or days as a measure of activity is that these give the same weight to a fly-in, fly-out airport tarmac rally as to a full-day of campaigning, such as bus tour with many stops along the way.
Events is finer measure, but there are problems and ambiguities which must be clarified. There are many types of events: scheduled rallies where the candidate speaks to hundreds or thousands of people, roundtable discussions limited to invited guests, closed press fundraisers, and unannounced or impromptu stops where the candidate meets a few dozen people.
One could make a distinction between
scheduled
events and unscheduled events. A
problem here is that different campaigns or even the same campaign may
not be consistent in terms of what they consider an event.
Sometimes schedules note fundraisers and other times not. Airport
arrivals are sometimes on the schedule and
other times not. A reliance on
schedules leaves out unannounced or unscheduled stops or OTRs (off the
record stops). Unannounced stops at
diners or town squares can be
among
the more interesting activities a candidate does because they are less
scripted. Although impromptu stops are often quite brief, just
five
minutes or fifteen or twenty minutes, they can have a big impact on
the individuals involved. A surprise encounter with a
candidate
in a diner or restaurant can have a multiplier effect beyond just the
customers present; they will likely tell family or friends about it,
and news
photographs may spread images to a wider audience. Careful
research
can find many of these OTRs.
If a candidate goes jogging or takes a
bike ride around town that will usually be unpublicized, but the
candidate
will be seen and there may be reports or photos of the activity.
For example in the 2008 campaign there were occasional mentions and
reports of then-Sen. Obama
going to a gym to work out
or play basketball. Those would not be included as events.
However, if candidate invites the media to cover such an
activity, that would be an event. For example during the 1992 New
Hampshire
primary campaign Paul Tsongas
did a photo op at the Concord YMCA swimming pool to show he was healthy.
Church services can be a murky
area.
Sometimes the schedule shows
that a candidate will attend and/or speak at a church service; that is
clearly an event. Other times attendance is a private matter and
not publicized, but there still may be photographers on hand to shoot
the arrival or departure.
In terms of keeping
score, elected officials do official events and
campaign events. If an official makes a visit and just does
official business, should that be included in the tally? Examples
include Gov. Jay Nixon's July 22, 2014 visit to Emmetsburg, Iowa to
tour the Project LIBERTY cellulosic
ethonol plant, and Gov. Scott Walker's Sept. 8, 2014 visit to Des
Moines to participate in the 48th annual Midwest U.S.-Japan Association
conference. On October 13, 2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders and
Department of
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert A. McDonald appeared at at recruiting
presentation at Dartmouth-Hichcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH.
Following the shootings at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in July
2015, several prospects visited to honor the victims. I do
not include any of these in the tallies. This is open to debate; input
welcome. However, Vice President Joe Biden's appearance at
the kickoff of the Nuns on the Bus tour in Des Moines, Iowa on Sept.
17, 2014 was, unbelievably, classified as an official business
trip. That seemed a stretch. In fact, when one is
considering visits by a president or vice president, such visits are
almost always seen in a political light even if they are
official business; those visits are included in the tallies.
Private meetings are another difficult
area.
Private, behind-the-scenes meetings can be as or more important to a
candidacy than any public stop or event. Sometimes a schedule
will note
private meetings or provide details; more often they do
not.
Some private meetings are reported on, others are not.
The
discussion above illustrates the problems and complications involved in
using events as a measurement. The events measurement does get
more to the
quality of a visit than days or visits numbers, but without access to
full and complete schedules, such an
analysis seems a bit too fine in my view. Thus I have settled on
presenting
number of visits and
number of days.
Finally, a word should
be said about surrogate visits. A visit by candidate's wife or
husband can provide a boost to a campaign; some candidates also put
their kids out on the trail, and there are a whole range of other
possible surrogates including prominent politicians and
celebrities. With sufficient resources one could do an analysis
of these visits as well.
Conclusion
The listings of visits and tallies provide a picture of potential
candidate / candidate travel based on publicly
available
information (schedules, news accounts), fact checked and supplemented
with details provided by campaign operatives and others. They are
not definitive - some unpublicized
fundraisers and unannounced stops are no doubt missing - but include
all major public events, and as many unannounced events as it was
possible to document through extensive research. The tallies are
most useful in comparing the relative activity of one potential
candidate or candidate to another. Additionally, years from now,
you the reader may want to figure out where and when
you met one of the candidates. Years from now there may not even
be an
Iowa caucuses or a New Hampshire primary and it would be useful to know
what it took to campaign in these contest. Keeping in mind the
caveats mentioned above, I offer these listings for the record and hope
that you find them helpful.
Notes:
Hugh Winebrenner and Dennis Goldford. Dec. 28, 2010. The
Iowa Precinct Caucuses: The Making of a Media Event. Iowa
City:
University of Iowa Press, 3rd Edition. [first edition published
in 1987]