Is Running for President the Best Way to Win Senate Reelection?
D.G. Martin, Up & Coming Weekly, May 28 - June 3, 2003 May 28, 2003
"How are we going to keep our U.S. Senate seat if John Edwards won't decide what he is going to do?"
You would hear this question being muttered if you were listening to some North Carolina Democratic Party regulars. Here is why they are worried. They think that if Edwards waits until late this year or early next year to decide whether he is running for President or the U.S. Senate, or both, it may make it impossible to beat the presumptive Republican senate candidate, Congressman Richard Burr. If Edwards only then decides not to run for the Senate, they say, it will be too late for another Democratic candidate to mount a strong campaign.
What galls some of them is their belief that other Democrats, like last year's Senate candidate Erskine Bowles, would stand a better chance of beating Burr than Edwards would. Edwards, they believe, has torpedoed his chances with moderate North Carolina swing voters by his appeal to the more liberal Democratic voters whose support is necessary to win presidential primaries in other states.
Bowles, they think, could still hold on to substantial political and financial support from enough business leaders and moderates to compete with Burr. But, they say, until there is a Democratic alternative like Bowles, Burr will have a free hand signing up support (and money) from such people. Six months from now, they say, it will be too late for another Democratic candidate.
All this makes sense. But there is another side to the story. It is this: John Edwards' best chance to retain his senate seat is by running for President. Why? Money and publicity - the two most important assets for a senate candidate these days, and the hardest to come by.
On the money side, even a senator as wealthy as John Edwards cannot afford to pay the enormous cost of a reelection campaign by himself. But fund-raising is a tough business. Most Democratic senate candidates can look for substantial help from a group of moderate and liberal political action committees (PACs). But not John Edwards. He has promised never to accept contributions from PACs.
Therefore, even if he secured generous financial support from individuals in North Carolina, it might not be enough to compete with a well-financed Republican candidate like Burr. To raise enough money for another senate campaign without PAC help, Edwards needed to follow the example of former Senator Jesse Helms by building a broad based group of national financial supporters.
With very impressive early fundraising success in his presidential campaign, Edwards is on his way to achieving this goal. Of course, not all of his presidential contributors will help again in a senate race. But many will, and some will help over and over again. In the meantime, their money is paying for an up-and-running Edwards organization that can be converted to the senate campaign when he gives the word.
Then, there is the publicity. An ordinary first-term senator has a hard time keeping his name before the public at home. Edwards' presidential campaign, however, gets his name on the front page of every North Carolina newspaper almost every day, it seems. In a very short time he has built a bank of name recognition that every other politician would envy.
So, the next time you run into a loyal Democrat who insists that Edwards is "risking" a Senate seat by running for President, just remember these two words: money and publicity.
They are the most critical assets for a senate campaign, and Edwards is putting them in the bank every day.
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