http://arkansasnews.com/2010/08/29/lincoln-should-have-started-spending-sooner-observers-say/

“She’s made a spectacular mistake in strategy in waiting to hold money for the end, when the definition of Blanche Lincoln started back in August of last year,” Republican political consultant Bill Vickery said. “It’s just a classic mistake when you don’t spend money early.

“I think that her campaign violated one of the primary rules of politics,” said Democratic political consultant Debbie Wilhite. “If you don’t define yourself, your opponents will. It’s define or be defined, and they let her be defined. It’s going to take a lot to get people to really understand her record.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-brown-20100830,0,3713451.story

Democrat Jerry Brown is running for governor, but voters in California might not know it. Since winning the primary in June, he has spent almost nothing, has rarely appeared on the campaign trail and has yet to air a single ad against Republican rival Meg Whitman.

But as Labor Day, the traditional start of the general election season, approaches, polls show that Brown and Whitman are locked in a tight race, despite Whitman's putting $104 million of her personal wealth into her campaign and spending $20 million on television ads over the summer.

"It's a very important point that after Brown not running any campaign, the race is still tied," said GOP strategist Adam Mendelsohn. "People are now realizing that Jerry Brown is a tougher candidate than they anticipated and the fall is going to be a very difficult election. I think some Republicans thought because she had so much money and was running a very competent campaign, they could get themselves 10 or 15 points up" before he began campaigning.

Darry Sragow, a Democratic consultant, said Brown managed to avoid looking like he was grandstanding precisely because he has not been in full campaign mode.

"If he had become a candidate too early, in the eyes of voters, everything he did legitimately and appropriately as attorney general … would be suspect," Sragow said.