Campaign Ability: This score for candidates is established based on the following guidelines:
5 = Long term and defensible reputation as a excellent campaigner.
4 = Long term and defensible reputation as an above average campaigner.
3 = Sufficiently established reputation as a reasonable campaigner or a new candidate with the early appearance of running a decent campaign.
2 = Sufficiently established reputation as a below average campaigner or a new candidate with the early appearance of running a below average campaign.
1 = Sufficiently established reputation as a poor campaigner or a new candidate with the early appearance of running a poor campaign.
0 = Not used.
Note: The candidate’s ability to campaign would not be as important if their competitor was less able or was not competitive for other reasons. Or if they had no competitor. This factor would reasonable lower the relevance of ‘Campaign Ability’ for such a candidate. This factor is somewhat considered in the scoring and may be mentioned in the hover text comments over this criterion score for the candidate.
Protest candidates: This year there are many protest or anti-establishment candidates—mainly on the right. Most of these candidates have typical attributes of being new, underfunded, and open with statements about problems with establishment politicians and special interests. Many of these candidates don’t plan to win, but use the forum for running for office to highlight their messaging about issues with the political establishment. This alternate mission is considered in scoring these candidates.