They say that, "necessity is the mother of invention." Well, that maxim is certainly true in politics.
Political campaigns that have plenty of money tend to be conservative. Too often, they "play it safe," and get a bit lazy. They are like the football team that is trying to run out the clock and play a "prevent defense."
Meanwhile, candidates without money often have to rack their brains to find creative ways to generate "earned" media. Sometimes this results in innovation, and sometimes it results in costly mistakes.
...But when you're down by two touchdowns, you are more likely to be willing to throw a "Hail Mary." And as the Redskins learned last year during the Monday Night game against the Cowboys - sometimes, it actually works!
Such is the certainly the case in the Maryland Democrat gubernatorial primary race, where Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley is out-spending Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan.
According to the Washington Post: "With money tight, Duncan has been forced to rely heavily on generating media coverage, sending his image-makers and press secretaries into overdrive."
This has resulted in recycling internet ads, as well as relying on a heavy schedule of talk radio interviews for the candidate.
Of course, being without money means you miss opportunities. As the Post reports, "Michael Morrill, a longtime Maryland Democratic strategist who is neutral in the race, said Duncan is 'in the most difficult place to be in a campaign."
"He is trying to create a wave he can ride, and the best campaigns ride the waves that are already out there," Morrill said. "He does not have the money nor the press platform to make that wave on his own and right now."
Another dilemma facing campaigns such as Duncan's is deciding whether or not to spend his limited money - or to hoard it.
Traditional campaign logic dictates that you hoard early money, and then spend it toward the end of the campaign (when voters are making up their minds). After all, the logic goes, only political junkies are paying attention now. Undecided voters - the ones that matter - don't pay attention until the last weeks before an election (note: MD will have early voting this year, so that changes the timeline a bit).
... Of course, in the real world, things are never that neat and tidy.
The truth is that it takes money to raise money. Sometimes you have to spend money to be deemed "viable."
If you never spend money, how can you build momentum? Additionally, if you don't spend money early, you run the risk of having your opponent define you and effectively end the campaign early.
Struggling campaigns often make the choice to do whatever they have to do to survive, stay somewhat viable, and to "live to fight another day."
They reason that every day they "stay alive" is a day that a savior might ride in on a white horse and write them that big check. Of course, this is usually a mistake ...
