Resource allocation and voter calculus in a multicandidate election

This paper links campaign resources and voter calculus through a microeconomic optimization framework. I assume that candidate policy positions are fixed while personal valence scores and the salience of issue dimensions are malleable. Low valence candidates with many proximate competitors in the policy space will focus on building valence. High valence candidates who are relatively "unclustered" in the policy space will focus on manipulating issue salience. Resources devoted to diminishing others' valence scores will increase as the number of viable candidates decreases. The model's results are tested, where feasible, using data from the Democratic Party primary of 2004.