Will events of 2024 lead to a reset on the pace of presidential campaigns?

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Public News Service) – A day after introducing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris takes her presidential campaign to Wisconsin.

Her sudden shift to the top of the ticket has raised questions about how future campaigns might be run. Along with the Harris campaign, the Republican nominee for vice president JD Vance will also be in Wisconsin today. Analysts say Harris was able to quickly garner party support after President Joe Biden opted not to accept the Democratic nomination.

David Schultz, professor of political science at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, said in the past half-century, campaigns have typically unfolded after the midterms. He wondered if a new mindset will take over.

“If she were to win, this changes the strategy where people might say, ‘Well, gosh, I don’t have to declare two years in advance and go through all those battles,'” Schultz suggested.

Schultz pointed out another domino to fall is getting the states aligned with their presidential primaries and having most of them held in late spring and early summer. In its polling from 2016, 2020 and this year, the Pew Research Center said a majority of respondents felt election coverage fatigue in the latter stages of the presidential race.

Schultz argued shorter presidential campaigns could also open the door to renewed interest in the party conventions.

“We have forgotten about the fact that, for so much of American history, we didn’t know the presidential nominee until the convention,” Schultz noted.

While shorter campaign cycles might resonate with voters, some experts said it will be hard to overhaul the marathon approach to seeking the White House because of the money needed to carry out a successful bid.

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Support for this reporting by Public News Service was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

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This article originally appeared on Wisconsin News Connection, a division of Public News Service.