Exploratory Committees Build Buzz
Candidates Drag Out Announcements to Get More Press
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, December 11, 2006; Page A17
"It is the season of exploration.
Everywhere you look, prospective 2008 presidential candidates are forming exploratory committees. Three leading Republicans and one prominent Democrat who have long been pursuing the presidency announced such committees in recent days, saying they are not ready to announce a real presidential committee, and so are taking an intermediate step to raise money and put together a campaign operation just in case they decide to run."
Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee, and then-Gov. George W. Bush of Texas in 2000 created exploratory committees before announcing their candidacies. But the number of candidates creating such committees at this point in the election cycle, a month after the midterm elections, is unusual.
