Yesterday the Politico published an interesting article about an interview with Karl Rove. The emphasis of the article was:
"I think it is going to mean that people develop a persona earlier and wear out their welcome earlier than they would," he told The Politico in an interview. "I think there’s going to come some point this year where people are going to basically be saying: ‘I’m largely disinterested in the contest.’ ”
I think that this has to be understood in proper context. I think that Rove’s point is that too much campaigning will make it hard to both maintain attention and maintain an image.
If that is the question, the problem for campaigns is: How do we stay in the headlines without campaigning all the time?
Right now, at least on the GOP side, only John McCain has an effective answer. And that’s probably why he isn’t in a rush to formally announce for President. His leadership in the Senate gets him headlines and puts him at the forefront of most of the debates, whether the debate is Iraq, immigration, spending, or anything else. Like a sitting President, McCain will be able to avoid campaigning by doing things that provide him the mantle of leadership.
Compare that to Mitt Romney, former governor of Michigan Massachusetts. Why would people be interested in what he had to say if he weren’t running for President? For Rudy Giuliani it’s a little different. People are interested in what he has to say on security and leadership. He simply needs to "be".