What is the definition of a campaign promise?

[bluestateguy]

I'd really like to know because I'm confused.

Is a campaign promise when a candidate says he will do something? Or that he will try to do something? Must he say "I promise" for it to count as a campaign promise? Is it a broken promise if the officeholder moves heaven and Earth to try to get it done but other actors (special interests, Congress, courts, bureaucrats, etc.) successfully stand in the way?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. It depends on what the meaning of "try" is.

:think:

[Laelth]

2. To re-frame the question: When do you have the right to be pissed off?

For me the answer is simple; it's when I feel I have been betrayed.

People have vastly different tolerance levels for betrayal, in my experience. So, the answer to your question is not universal. It's very personal and individualized.

:dem:

-Laelth

[ksoze]

3. It is a weather vane which shows which direction a candidate will move towards

It tells more of his goals and ideals than being a pact or guarantee. A leader who sticks to his original thought because he said he would instead of calibrating based on reality ends up in a long war in Iraq.