The Handshake Part II: McCain and Bradley Team Up on Campaign Finance

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Now they take their message national. And since campaign finance is an issue particularly dear to the hearts of the independent voters in New Hampshire, who, unlike residents of most states, can participate in their state's primary and will be a significant force there, the joint appearance could be an extra-large hay-making opportunity for McCain and Bradley. A high score in that primary could be particularly good news for McCain. In recent polls, 64 percent of registered Republicans nationwide said they'd vote for Bush in the primaries. But when presented with the scenario of McCain winning some of the early contests, Bush's lead is cut to a slim 3 percent (37 percent to 34 percent).

Still, there are risks. By preplanning and over-hyping this appearance, McCain and Bradley jeopardize the very appeal that made them. "This is a scripted and staged event, the very thing they've said they're not about," says TIME deputy Washington bureau chief Matthew Cooper. "That could certainly backfire." Further, while the issue could help bolster the candidates in New Hampshire, it could hurt on the national level, particularly for McCain. After all, Republicans get the elephant's share of soft money donations, so in states where only party members can vote, the reforms may not be very popular. "Republicans are less receptive to crossing party lines and they're certainly less receptive to taking a chance on an untested political idea like campaign finance reform," says TIME chief political correspondent Eric Pooley.

Then there's the question of whether the whole thing is enough to capture the public imagination. "As good an idea as it is, campaign finance just isn't a salient issue," says Cooper. "Beyond New Hampshire, I don't think it'll drive too many people to the voting booth." McCain, especially, can only hope he's wrong. "If somehow Bush or Gore doesn't pull off his party's nomination, there will be some definite lessons learned by the two parties," says Pooley. Yet if this embrace of all that's authentic by the media and two underdog candidates does translate into winds of political change, will the public know what to do with politicians who say what they mean?