Gordon Brown fought a leadership contest against himself, seeking to prove his "strength" by being the the only candidate.
Mr. Russo believes that Felix could have won the contest by himself, but that their relationship enhanced the learning experience.
If this most reluctant of superstars doesn't yearn to win Sunday's contest for himself, then what about his sport?
His aim was to paint the election, when it came, as a contest between himself and Mr Ozawa, whose robustness has been undermined by poor health.
Florida senator Marco Rubio, who has yet to win a nominating contest, cast himself as a party unifier with the appeal to grow its base.
But in a sign the battle will continue for weeks or months yet, he was already campaigning on Tuesday in Illinois, whose primary next Tuesday is shaping up as a yet another close contest between himself and Mr Santorum.
A little-known mayor who has risen to prominence in the early sparring for the 2020 Democratic presidential contest cast himself as the man for a modern and changing America as he officially announced his candidacy.
This year, coaches Martin Rinard, associate professor in computer science, and Vladimir Kiriansky, a senior in the department (and a two-year contest veteran himself) selected three students: Percy Liang '04, John Danaher '04 and Reid Barton '05.
In fact, sketches which initially seem out to skewer patriarchal society – like one where a man is deemed humourless after complaining about having to visit a gender-reversed Hooters-style restaurant called O'Nutters – end with a wry reinforcement of its ideals (the male customer is dragged into a "wet nut contest", enjoys himself immensely, is cured of misanthropy, etc).
Mr Santorum, who is in second place but with only just over half as many delegates as the front-runner, has called on Mr Gingrich to step aside to allow for a head-to-head contest between himself and Mr Romney, who has built his lead largely because the others have split the conservative vote.
