Candidates tune up sound byte machines. The fourth estate publishing puff pieces on each newly announced candidate. Voters are optimistic, involved, interested. One year before a Presidential election. The grueling months through New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and on to Super Tuesday.
Candidates take off the kid gloves and start gnawing at each other.
The fourth estate publishes cutting profiles on the remaining candidates. The airwaves fill with sound bites of candidates attacking rivals. Many voters are jaded, disillusioned, uninterested. George Washington delivered his Farewell Address from Congress Hall in Philadelphia. The campaign trail was not always like this.