Exploratory Committees Build Buzz

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.

What's the deal?

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), there is no difference between an exploratory committee and a presidential campaign committee. The ideas behind creating an exploratory committee, strategists and experts say, are to create buzz -- and to do what everybody expects you to do.

"You get two press releases, one when you form the exploratory committee, and one when you say you're actually running," said Kenneth A. Gross, a lawyer specializing in politics and elections.

Dorothy James, a Connecticut College government professor who specializes in presidential elections, said creating an exploratory committee has become a routine campaign ploy. "A lot of people have to do it because it's done," she said. "There's no proof that bumper stickers and posters turn out more voters. But if everybody does it, then you do it."

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.

Scott Reed, who managed Robert J. Dole's 1996 presidential candidacy, said, "It appears the entire timetable has moved up two to three months as these candidates struggle to get out there and define their piece of the pie." Reed said it does not make sense for candidates to declare officially this early. "It's too soon for the voters to take seriously a formal announcement before the end of the year. Everyone is still dealing with 2006 fatigue."

Already, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) have registered exploratory committees with the FEC. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) has created a "testing the waters" committee in his home state that allows him to raise money but not disclose contributors unless he formally declares. Other prominent candidates are expected to create exploratory committees in coming weeks.

Last week, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), apparently trying to get three bites out of the apple, announced that he would announce next month whether he would form an exploratory committee.

Outgoing Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-Iowa), meanwhile, bypassed the exploratory stage, a move that departing Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) is reportedly considering. "There is no reason to be coy or cute with the interim step," said Jeff Link, Vilsack's spokesman. "I don't know the advantage unless you want to appear to be courted in some way by people."

Candidates who form exploratory committees often say it is the next reasonable thing they can do to prepare for a White House bid without officially getting into the race. They say they need to talk it over with their families and assess their odds, though in many cases they have been evaluating a race for months or years.

Bayh, for example, had made almost 20 trips to early-primary states when he announced on ABC's "This Week" that he would form an exploratory committee. But Bayh suggested to host George Stephanopoulos that he still had serious thinking to do.

"I will be forming an exploratory committee to take the next practical step," Bayh said in a deadly serious tone. "I'll make a final decision over the holidays with my family and have some final decision to announce early next year."

Dan Pfeiffer, Bayh's spokesman, said it was important to get certain processes underway even before the senator made a final decision. "In a primary this competitive and compact, there is no excuse for doing things next year that you could have done this year."

According to FEC Chairman Michael E. Toner, the exploratory committees are in fact plain old committees used to raise money and run campaigns in presidential primaries. The only change, once a candidate decides to run, is the name of the committee. "If they file with the FEC, it's a full-blown primary campaign," Toner said.