The State of the Race for Governor

In many ways, the campaign for Governor of Wisconsin starts today.

Tomorrow, Jim Doyle delivers his annual State of the State Address.

Today, both Republican candidates will offer their 'friendly suggestions' to Doyle. They will likely contain several insightful comments and a few tongue-in-cheek rebukes. Tomorrow, Walker and Green will put out another preview and of course, both will be all over Doyle with their rapid reaction to the speech. On Wednesday, after taking time to digest and analyze both the speech and their Primary opponent's actions, they'll have one final kick at that cat.

Those looking at the status of the GOP Primary have several factors to consider, not the least of which will be the end of year cash on hand numbers that will be made public later this month. But how these two organizations handle the next few days will also be telling. Perhaps even more so than their campaign finance reports.

Things I would review for the sake of comparison:

1. The insight both men provide before the speech
2. The pithiness and tightness of their message immediately following Doyle's speech
3. The breadth and depth of the post-speech analysis
4. The skill in which their respective staffs execute the delivery of the message
5. The overall consistency of the message from Monday to Wednesday
6. The tenor and tone of their various media releases
7. The amount and quality of coverage by the MSM and conservative blogosphere

Stay tuned...