The invisible primary also favored Bob Dole in 1996. The winners in the nomination game are not necessarily the wisest or the most principled. Fraught with unpredictability, the candidate-centered campaign demands players with overriding ambition and strategic prowess. The Permanent Campaign Game Campaigning does not stop with the election. Because voter loyalty to parties and individuals has become fragile, officeholders must continuously promote and protect their images or form new ones more in tune with current tastes.
Money is the essential element that affects how and whether one plays the game.
The campaign cash pile favors some congressional aspirants over others. Even the defeat of a surprisingly large number of Democratic incumbents in 1994 is consistent with the laws because many Republican challengers were well financed. The pressure to keep raising a huge campaign war chest burdens incumbents and enhances their sense of insecurity. Current laws that regulate campaign finance were passed as revulsion spread over the shady fundraising of President Nixon s 1972 reelection campaign. The Federal Election Campaign Act was a well-intentioned effort to keep money from corrupting elections.