The Machine President

I'm going to make a prediction about the next president - he/she will be the president with the best professional organization.

What do I mean by "professional"?

Not necessarily paid. Interns, committed (and financially secure) volunteers, true believers.

What won't happen is the massive numbers of high school and college students on vacation, teachers on summer break, and other typical volunteers who provide assistance to campaigns.

That's because, long before American schools release their students and teachers, the campaign will be over - all but the actual nomination. The race to have early primaries will drain a lot of the excitement and enthusiasm from campaigns, at least until the conventions, late in the summer.

And that may change the apparatus of campaigns completely. Expect more retirees to work for candidates; that will change the concerns and demographics. This may lead to a reduction in voting. I'm calling it for fewer people voting than ever before - they won't have participated in the process, they won't know the candidates (the candidates will be competing for attention, just before the primaries, with Sweeps Month, rather than summer re-runs), and they won't have a personal interest in the process.

This may be the last election controlled by machines and the MSM.