With the president actively building support, candidates from both parties will be canvassed for their positions. This effect, too, is one of degree. Candidates have always been asked about their reactions to contemporary events. When the sitting president is such a commanding public presence, however, candidates may find themselves more reactive than proactive in regard to issues. One possible consequence of constant campaigning may be a celebrity effect.
Presidents are, by definition, celebrities.
That status is, however, typically associated with their constitutional or institutional position. In Clinton s case, which one might hope is unique, multiple scandals and a devotion to campaigning fabricated a notoriety of a different sort one based more on personal than public or institutional qualities. Thus, as with celebrities from the entertainment industry, Clinton generated a kind of popularity or notoriety that is not prestige. And, in fact, innumerable polls show the low regard respondents have for the president s personal qualities. Whereas the Clinton experience with personal scandal is unlikely to be repeated any time soon, still the effect, especially in an era of the permanent campaign, may be detailed probing into the personal lives of candidates to an even greater extent than in the past, a development George W. Bush sought to challenge in regard to inquiries about cocaine use.