CANDIDATE: Thank you for agreeing to conduct some research to assess my potential as a candidate in the upcoming election. CONSULTANT: You're welcome. As a first step, our team analyzed the other potential primary contenders. The reality is that with such a strong field, it is going to be difficult to gain the_ majority ▼ of votes necessary to avoid a runoff-unless you want to go negative from the start. And our opposition research team found plenty of ammunition to do just that. CANDIDATE: I think going negative right now is too risky. After assessing the current political situation, I'm guessing that negative campaigning at this point might backfire with the voters. Because this is not a closed ▼ primary, I'd rather spend my advertising dollars tailoring a positive message to centrists and independents. CONSULTANT: Staying positive is a great strategy. CANDIDATE: Maybe, if I stick with positive messaging, I can get some support from people outside Texas CONSULTANT: You're absolutely right to avoid the trap of trying to please the extren unregistered voters the nomination phase. Far too many candidates find themselves in this situation and risk losing their appeal to the vote election-those who ultimately the opposition party decide the winner. On the other hand, make sure you don't take the base vote for CANDIDATE: Let's figure out how best to walk that line.

CANDIDATE: Thank you for agreeing to conduct some research to assess my potential as a candidate in the upcoming election. CONSULTANT: You're welcome. As a first step, our team analyzed the other potential primary contenders. The reality is that with such a strong field, it is going to be difficult to gain the_ majority ▼ of votes necessary to avoid a runoff-unless you want to go negative from the start. And our opposition research team found plenty of ammunition to do just that. CANDIDATE: I think going negative right now is too risky. After assessing the current political situation, I'm guessing that negative campaigning at this point might backfire with the voters. Because this is not a closed ▼ primary, I'd rather spend my advertising dollars tailoring a positive message to centrists and independents. CONSULTANT: Staying positive is a great strategy. CANDIDATE: Maybe, if I stick with positive messaging, I can get some support from people outside Texas CONSULTANT: You're absolutely right to avoid the trap of trying to please the extren unregistered voters the nomination phase. Far too many candidates find themselves in this situation and risk losing their appeal to the vote election-those who ultimately the opposition party decide the winner. On the other hand, make sure you don't take the base vote for CANDIDATE: Let's figure out how best to walk that line.