10 Rules of Presidential Politics

Go check out this article on Townhall.com by Patrick Ruffini. He lists 10 things we should have learned from the political process going on before us. I think he has hit upon several old or new truisms of presidential politics. In Dave Letterman top ten countdown format, here are his ten pieces of wisdom:

10. Politics abhors a vacuum.
9. Announcement bumps always fade, but....
8. Get in early.
7. Second-timers don't win.
6. Nice guys finish last.
5. Be the guy (or gal) people want to vote for.
4. You actually have to want the job.
3. Primary debates don't matter, but the post-spin does.
2. You can buy an early lead in IA/NH for about $2 million.
1. Issues are secondary.

You won't understand what he means in several of these unless you go read his article.