Juicing the base

A place where such political superstars as Sen. Elizabeth Dole and former President Bill Clinton can let our local candidates bask in their proverbial afterglow, all the while rallying the party faithful, schmoozing with reporters and posing for photos.

But for as much attention or excitement as former vice presidential candidate John Edwards or Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo can create among party diehards, the effects are really more about style than substance for everyone else. Such visits have almost no effect on the races, experts say.

"It juices the base," said Stephen Wayne, a political science professor at Georgetown University. "These are the kind of people who strong partisans get turned on by."

Conventional wisdom says celebrity candidates drop in on battleground races to get out the vote or rally a cause.

Consider former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, a triple amputee and Vietnam veteran who appeared twice for Democrat Jim Pederson in Tucson.

"His physical being suggests the horrors of war," Wayne said.

Visits are not always so limited.

Sometimes a politician's star falls, like Sen. John Kerry's, making him somebody nobody wants to be seen with.

And sometimes stars rise, like Edwards', who is likely stumping in anticipation of his run for president in 2008.

And, finally, visits help with each party's fundraising burden.

"Fundraising and motivating your base voters are the two advantages,"said Bruce Merrill of ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. "But it's not going to change anybody's mind."