With candidates goaded by a tight campaign calendar, rapid response speeds up

[DeepModem Mom]

The Politico: Rapid response speeds up
By: Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin
November 21, 2007

The presidential campaigns in both parties have begun reacting ferociously to real or perceived attacks from rivals, goaded by a tight campaign calendar that leaves no room for error, and a determination to show they’re tougher than John F. Kerry was in 2004. All of the candidates have sought to exploit any whiff of negativity from their opponents by pivoting off the charges with counterattacks designed to gain sympathy or political advantage within their own party.

The politics of strategic outrage includes efforts at pre-emption in response to genuinely damaging material, coupled with a certain relish at playing the victim in response to more minor slights. Campaign operatives say it will just get worse in the frantic run-up to the Iowa caucus on Jan. 3, which is followed closely by other make-or-break contests.

Joe Trippi, senior adviser to the John Edwards campaign, said the metabolism of this cycle has campaigns willing to risk overreacting in order to avoid being accused of underreacting. “Every lesson everyone learned from last time is that you have to respond quicker,” Trippi said. “And because of the calendar, everyone thinks it’s do or die, now or never. Add to that the short news cycles, with the Internet and blogs, and all those things conspire to make things more ferocious than ever.”

These operatives point out that one reason the responses often come so quickly is that they’re often pre-packaged — ready to be touched up and sent out with the slightest pretense or provocation. “Each campaign has reams of research and well-culled response strategy in the bank,” said GOP strategist and Mitt Romney backer Phil Musser.

“All the top contenders — Republican or Democrat — have a squad of coffee-fueled, 20-something hit men buried in a windowless HQ office breathing every factoid of their opponents’ political life. They’ve been champing at the bit to be unleashed through the first half of the primary season, but the past few weeks — when the whites of the eyes start to show — is where they whir into full gear.”...

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