Don’t throw good money after bad is a common idiom which applies to politics as much as anywhere. There comes a point in a candidate’s decision making process when he realizes he is not electable and, therefore, should not spend anymore money running a campaign. I came to this decision in my own political life. Surely Donald Trump and Sarah Palin gave up the warmth of the limelight as they accepted the reality of their limited probability of winning the 2012 Presidential race.
Filing to run as a candidate for a political office is a heady experience. Everyone you know tells you that you would be great in that office and that you are sorely needed. You are told that you could make a huge difference if you were elected. After a while you believe it, too, and any self-doubt is pushed aside in favor of a positive attitude. By the time the filing fee is paid the candidate usually believes with no uncertainty that he can win.
Once the campaign begins, there is a lot of work to do. Just standing around looking pretty does not get you elected. Everything must be organized. Loyal backers who would do the best job are selected to be campaign chairman, campaign treasurer, volunteer organizer, and so forth. Strategies for candidate exposure are created. A campaign is like a war with discipline and maneuvers which must be completed. All the while, the candidate is surrounded by people who urge him on with positive reinforcement telling him he is going to win.
It is easy to understand how a candidate can lose touch with the reality of how his message is coming across to the voters when no one he talks to gives him negative feedback. However, in the hours when no one is around saying otherwise, doubts do creep in to argue against all of the positive feedback. I found being a candidate quite a lonely experience. There was all of the craziness of a campaign and there was me by myself out there stumping in my district trying to say and do all of the right things to get elected.
Having run for office successfully and unsuccessfully a number of times, I noticed an odd phenomenon. That is, I could tell how it was going when the voting day was close. It was just a tangible feeling of winning or not winning. Still, actually winning was always a surprise to me. Losing may not have been a surprise, but it was very humbling. There’s nothing that can compare to the feeling of thousands of people voting against you. That is a cruel reality check. In time that feeling would subside and I would run for office again convinced that I could win.
Looking at the 2012 election, which is now whittled down to only four seasoned candidates, I have sympathy for all of them. These candidates have sought office over and over and I know they are feeling what I felt: certain knowledge one way or another of their success or failure this time.
It seems like Mitt Romney’s job for the last decade has been to run for President and yet he is not clearly leading the field. His vast wealth cannot buy the nomination. Ron Paul has run for President numerous times. He has a strong following of backers who fervently believe in his philosophies. Yet he must know after so many failures that he is not going to win this time either. Rick Santorum has an agenda which would take us back decades or even centuries. This attitude is not generally popular with the American people in 2012. He must know this and yet he persists. Newt Gingrich is a repudiated politician who seems to be using that and his anger towards Mitt Romney as his impetus. Is he surprised that he has slipped off the radar? Doubtful.
Some years ago I had to face my own humbling reality. That truth was that something about me made me unelectable beyond winning primaries. There was just no way it was ever going to happen. All of these candidates have worked hard to get this far. They have all spent vast amounts of money and taken outrageous stances to stand out from their competition. Some of their antics are downright embarrassing. One of the four candidates will win the Republican primary, though. The losers will need to listen to their honest inner voice which is telling them the truth. That truth is: you are not electable.