Money Primary

The race that's run before the one for president - that's 'the money primary.' But more than money must be acquired in the early campaign for president. What's often just as important in securing candidate viability and success is the media coverage garnered during this time, since this is frequently the first decisive test of a candidate's presidential strength. With the 2008 presidential nomination campaign approaching, this study's focus on the early campaigns in the 1988 and 2000 presidential races is all the more timely. These two presidential nomination campaigns are the only ones since the nominating reforms of the 1970's in which an incumbent president was not on the ballot - and 2008 is expected to be the third. If the early campaigns of 1988 and 2000 are a guide, the early campaign for 2008 will be in full swing by 2006, three years before Election Day 2008.

Most observers of presidential elections in the United States know that the ability to raise campaign funds has a direct bearing on the ability to get elected. But how many people understand how early the money chase has to begin? Michael Goff's, The Money Primary makes an important contribution to our understanding of the role of money in politics by showing how fund-raising plays a critical role in defining the field of candidates long before primary voters can have their voices heard. Anyone whohas wondered what it really takes to be a viable candidate for the nomination would benefit from reading The Money Primary., This is a very thoughtful, readable analysis of early presidential campaigning as well as a welcome update concerning early money and media attention. . . . Recommended., As front-loading and ever-increasing dependence on campaign cash redefine the nature and length of presidential campaigning, Michael Goff has presented a solid first attempt at explaining how presidential candidates maneuver themselves to positions of competitiveness in the early days of presidential elections. The Money Primary is a good piece of preliminary research into an area of increasing importance. Goff's conclusions, particularly that campaign finance reforms have counterintuitively made primaries less democratic, are challenging and evidently correct., The year before the presidential election has become a private referendum in which the wealthiest Americans substantially pre-select and pre-determine who our next President will be. Roughly ninety percent of maximum contributions to candidates are given the year before the election, and the hottest candidate in the check-writing sweepstakes is deemed 'worthy' by the major media via hundreds of news stories and the crowning buzzword, 'momentum.' All others are dubbed losers before the first votes are cast in Iowa and New Hampshire. Michael Goff's important new book, The Money Primary, examines how the early presidential nomination process has become distorted, and what it means for our democracy., Most observers of presidential elections in the United States know that the ability to raise campaign funds has a direct bearing on the ability to get elected. But how many people understand how early the money chase has to begin? Michael Goff's, The Money Primary makes an important contribution to our understanding of the role of money in politics by showing how fund-raising plays a critical role in defining the field of candidates long before primary voters can have their voices heard. Anyone who has wondered what it really takes to be a viable candidate for the nomination would benefit from reading The Money Primary.

Michael J. Goff is vice president for Development and College Relations at Loyola College in Maryland and has more than twenty-five years of experience in educational fund-raising. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University and teaches in the Master of Liberal Studies Program and the Department of Political Science at Loyola College in Maryland.