Given all this, there are some rules of the road for that long journey to Election Day, 2016, that need to be followed, lest we lose our way. And these rules exist for a very good reason: that is, for our own protection and the protection of our particular agenda. After all, we aren’t just your average voter. We vote in the party primaries, as well as in the general election: and we very often volunteer to work on a campaign, or maybe give money. Sometimes both. We become emotionally invested in the candidate, and take very personally his or her success or failure: when he or she speaks, we hold our breath, hoping the words will come out right. So these rules are for our own safety: the safety of the emotional, financial, and political investment we make in a campaign.