They are in the business of glorifying the candidate. From a candidate's perspective, the task is sometimes as simple as getting people's attention. There are always potential landmines in the candidate's own words. Careful control is the goal of the campaign. This was never more evident than in our president-elect's most unkind description of a New York Times reporter that was not intended for broadcast.
National campaigns are fine-tuned to appeal to independent voters who ultimately decide the winner.
Key words are repeated like mantras. Gore and Bush rushed eagerly toward the center, homing in on issues of taxes, Social Security, and education that appeal to an economically comfortable but worried group of voters. Rachel Gorlin is a political strategist and Democratic political consultant who has seen image building from the inside. She said Gore and Bush had tremendous ground to make up in establishing themselves with skeptical voters and that they weren't particularly effective. Gorlin says voters have such limited time that the campaigns have to stretch mightily for issues that will get attention.