The core of the party, then, the men and women who cast primary ballots and attend caucuses, has become a liability in much the same way that the liberal wing of the Democratic Party pushed presidential candidates off the deep end from the late 1960s through the 1980s.
A private college in north London is offering government-funded places to people who "blatantly" don't have the skills, recruiting candidates off the street and from countries in eastern Europe – and in at least one case lecturing to a class with no students.
Sitting in the presidential suite at the Des Lux Hotel earlier Friday, Dickerson's eyes were fixed on his binder of queries, looking up to ask whether a change in wording or a well-crafted follow-up would work to push the candidates off their stump speeches and away from the answers that had become pat over a number of interviews.
The fact that one candidate in the governor's race, Eliot Spitzer, has a significant lead in the polls makes the task more difficult, preventing the coalition from playing candidates off against each other, the coalition said.
If states vote in a bloc, candidates will be whizzing off from one airport photo-op to another.
In Maine, Republican governor Paul LePage won a three-way race in which an independent candidate siphoned off votes from Democrat Mike Michaud.
Timing was clearly an issue with this particular candidate as well: "During the interview, an alarm clock went off from a candidate's briefcase.
"It's an issue of who's going to control your campaign," said Charles Black, Mr. McCain's senior adviser, noting the candidates' risk of negativity rubbing off from zealous supporters' roundhouses.
Candidate off-target sites were also confirmed by T7E1 assay.
As the candidate locally dubbed Dubya flew off from home base here today on his final sprint for the presidency, Mark and Ed, the talk-show team on KLBJ-AM's dawn patrol were already sensing fresh material in the air.
