Shortly after the 2004 election, a tongue-in-cheek Associated Press (AP) article led with the following: “Wanted: a former altar boy from the Southwest who speaks Spanish, married into a rich Republican family from Ohio and revolutionized the Internet after working as a volunteer firefighter in Florida. Position: president of the United States.” Using findings from exit polls to construct the profile of the perfect presidential candidate for 2008, the article went on to propose that he:

• “[is] a Medal of Honor winner” with combat experience, who helped normalize relations with Vietnam;

• loves outdoor sports and drops his “‘g's’ when talkin' about huntin' and fishin' and car racin'”;

• is a former quarterback for the University of Michigan Rose Bowl team;

• is a “trained economist who taught in Minnesota, where he met his wife, a nurse,” whose father is a former governor;

• “was a volunteer fireman” who “drove his pickup truck to help out the World Trade Center site”;

• and is “a billionaire in his own right who developed software …”

Although not fitting this profile, five prominent men and Hillary Rodham Clinton were mentioned in this article as potential candidates. It closed with, “Mr. Perfect might be a Mrs. – the first woman to head a majority party ticket. But it would be a lonely job, what with her husband fighting in Iraq.”

For presidential candidacies, the press serves as the great mentioner, without whose attention no candidate can be seen as viable. The power of mentioning, or not, has implications beyond individual candidates.