Chris Matthews could have a new guest. This process would also serve to focus voter attention on issues by making the discussion of those issues more entertaining. While voters may not always be particularly issue-oriented, they are always intrigued by personalities. The electorate might be willing to tune in for a debate over school choice if, instead of Al and George going at it again, they were treated to the fresh new faces of prospective Education Secretaries Rob Reiner and David Eisenhower. For candidates and their campaign staffs, the advantages and disadvantages are readily apparent.
Candidates get more attention, but they also get more headaches.
Tony Coelho has to place that late night call to Al Gore and warn him that the New York Times is set to report that Interior Secretary-designate Rosie O Donnell was fined in 1993 for hunting without a license. After several days of damage control, the Gore camp cuts its losses, Rosie withdraws her name and Gore quickly names Alec Baldwin to put the mess behind him. A clear upside is that candidates would have more headliners for Party dinners to help with the hard work of amassing soft money. After ten weeks of setting up a government, the candidates just might provide the electorate with some idea of who is ready to govern and where they want to lead the country. The campaigns could use the moral authority of these shadow governments to argue that the party is not truly represented by the extremists who wrote the platform.